Abstract
Psychological distress is frequently reported in transplant survivors. We prospectively assessed anxiety and depression before transplant, in the isolation period and during a follow-up period of 1 year. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was administered to 131 cancer patients treated with high-dose chemotherapy followed by allogeneic (SCT) or autologous (ASCT) stem cell transplantation, and a concurrent group of 123 lymphoma patients receiving standard chemotherapy (CT) who served as a reference group. Relatively low levels of anxiety and depression were found. The level of anxiety slightly declined from baseline during follow-up (mean scores SCT: from 5.3 to 3.6, CT: from 6.0 to 4.2) or remained fairly stable (ASCT: from 5.4 to 4.8). The level of depression peaked when the transplant patients were in protective isolation or shortly thereafter (SCT: 6.1, ASCT: 6.4), but stabilized at baseline levels after 4 months. The highest level of depression in the CT group was reported 4 months after start of chemotherapy (3.4). Elevated levels of anxiety and depression at baseline predicted more anxiety and depression at the later assessments (P values <0.0001). the asct group had higher levels of anxiety after 1 year (mean 4.8) than those found in the other two groups (sct: 3.6, ct: 4.2), although they were not statistically significant. this study revealed lower than expected levels of anxiety and depression after intensive chemotherapy followed by sct or asct. there was a decline in psychological distress during the 1-year follow-up period.
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Hjermstad, M., Loge, J., Evensen, S. et al. The course of anxiety and depression during the first year after allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 24, 1219–1228 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1702046
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1702046
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