Anxiety and depression in individuals with and without cancer during the early COVID-19 pandemic period

Introduction/Objective The COVID-19 disease, which has turned into an important public health problem, has negatively affected individuals not only physically but also psychologically. The aim of this study is to examine the anxiety and depression status of cancer patients, comparing to individuals with non-cancer chronic diseases and healthy individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic period between May 8 and June 25 2020 with 1107 people in Turkey. The mean age of the participants in the study was 36.41 +/- 12.80. The sample comprised three groups: cancer group (n = 262), chronic disease control group (n = 250), and healthy control group (n = 595). The data were collected with the Descriptive Characteristics Form and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results The anxiety and depression scores were found to be higher in patients with cancer comparing to the other two groups. Having cancer was predictive of higher anxiety and depression score explaining 13% of the anxiety scores variance and 17% of the depression scores variance. Patients with the non-cancer chronic diseases, and healthy participants had anxiety and depression mean scores in the range of the borderline level. Conclusion These findings suggest that depression and anxiety rates among patients with cancer are specifically higher comparing to patients with other chronic diseases and healthy individuals. The levels of anxiety and depression in the latter two groups should also be paid attention to during the pandemic. This study may have important practical implications in terms of the need for psychological screening.