Comparison of the anxiety, depression and their relationship to quality of life among adult acute leukemia patients and their family caregivers: a cross-sectional study in China

Purpose To compare the anxiety, depression and explore their relationship to quality of life (QoL) among adult acute leukemia (AL) patients and family caregivers (FCs) in China. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2017 to January 2018. The sample comprised 207 dyads of adult AL patients and FCs. The participants were required to complete socio-demographic information and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia (FACT-Leu, only for patients) and MOS 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36, only for FCs) were used to measure QoL. Results The mean scores of anxiety and depression for AL patients were 7.89 +/- 3.85 and 7.18 +/- 4.23, respectively. For FCs, the mean scores of anxiety and depression were 9.96 +/- 3.73 and 8.64 +/- 3.74. In this study, adult AL Patients' sex, patients' depression score, whether patients achieving a CR or not, education, FCs' depression score, patients' social/family well-being and emotional well-being were significantly associated with patients' anxiety or depression (p < 0.05). For FCs, depression was significantly related to the physical component summary (beta = 0.127, p = 0.008). There were significant differences in anxiety (t = - 5.92, p < 0.001) and depression (t = - 4.19, p < 0.001) between patients and FCs. Conclusions AL patients' FCs showed higher score of anxiety and depression than that of patients. The psychological health may have a potential relationship between AL patients and their FCs. Healthcare professionals can conduct family-center interventions to improve mental health and QoL of AL patients and FCs.