Depressive Disorders Among Patients with Gastric Cancer in Taiwan: A
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Hu et al. BMC Psychiatry (2018) 18:272 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1859-8 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Depressive disorders among patients with gastric cancer in Taiwan: a nationwide population-based study Li-Yu Hu2,3,4, Chia-Jen Liu4,5, Chiu-Mei Yeh6,TiLu1, Yu-Wen Hu4,7, Tzeng-Ji Chen4,6, Pan-Ming Chen8, Shyh-Chyang Lee9,10 and Cheng-Ho Chang1* Abstract Background: In cancer patients, depressive disorder comorbidity is associated with greater suicide risk and poorer treatment outcomes, quality of life, and adherence to treatment. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of newly-diagnosed depressive disorders after a gastric cancer diagnosis compared with a matched cohort using the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 57,506 patients (28,753 patients with gastric cancer and 28,753 matched patients) selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients were observed for a maximum of 12 years to determine the incidence of newly-diagnosed depressive disorders. Also, a Cox regression analysis which included death as an independent censor was performed to identify the potentially predictive variables for developing subsequent depressive disorders following a cancer diagnosis among the patients suffering from gastric cancer. Results: The cumulative incidence of depressive disorders in the gastric cancer patients was significantly higher compared to those in the matched cohort (p < .001). The adjusted hazard ratio was 1.54 (95% confidence interval, CI = 1.39–1.70, P < .001) in the gastric cancer cohort compared with the matched cohort. Independent predictive variables for developing subsequent depressive disorders among the patients with gastric cancer included female sex and hypertension. Conclusions: In the study, higher incidence of new-onset depression, being defined by the records of the diagnostic codes combining antidepressants use in a nationwide database, was noted in the gastric cancer patients compared with the matched cohort. In addition, female sex and comorbid hypertension may be predictive variables for the subsequent depression among the patients with gastric cancer. Further clinical prospective studies were necessary to confirm these findings. Keywords: Depression, Epidemiology, Gastric neoplasms, Risk factor Background high in men as they are in women [6]. Most important, Although the incidence of gastric cancer has declined the incidence rates of gastric cancer vary widely across over the last few decades in many countries [1–4], it is countries. Evidence has showed that incidence rates are still one of the most common cancers in the world. In highest in Eastern Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, 2012, an estimated 951,600 newly diagnosed gastric and South America. In addition, more than half of cancer patients and 723,100 deaths occurred worldwide newly diagnosed gastric cancer cases occurring in East- [5]. Gastric cancer rates are generally about twice as ern Asia [5, 7]. For example, in 2012, there were 3795 Taiwanese being diagnosed as gastric cancer and the gastric cancer was the fifth-most frequently diagnosed * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, No.386, cancer with a age-standardized incidence rate of 15.03 Dajhong 1st Rd., Zuoying Dist., Kaohsiung City 813, Taiwan per 100,000 people [8]. Moreover, gastric cancer has Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Hu et al. BMC Psychiatry (2018) 18:272 Page 2 of 8 also a high mortality; for instance, in Taiwan, gastric can- Methods cer ranks as the sixth-highest cause of cancer-related Data sources deaths in 2012 with a standardized mortality rate of 6.4 The Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) program, per 100,000 people [7]. which the government initiated in 1995, provides compre- Cancer is a risk factor for developing emotional distur- hensive health care for all Taiwanese residents. Enrollment bances, especially depression [9]. Evidence has revealed in this program is mandatory, and the proportion of the that depressive disorders are associated with reduced population insured reached 99% in 2006 [17]. The NHIRD quality of life and poorer outcomes in patients with can- contains information regarding clinical visits, including cer [10]. Several studies found an increased risk of sui- prescription details and diagnostic codes based on the cide among patients with cancer compared with the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, general population [11–13]. Additionally, depression has Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). The NHIRD is man- also been associated with poor survival among gastric aged by the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) cancer patients in China [14]. and confidentiality is maintained according to the direc- Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder tives of the NHI Bureau. This database also provides com- among the various types of cancer patients. Massieet et prehensive use of and enrollment information for all al. reviewed previous studies regarding the prevalence of patients with “catastrophic illnesses.” Catastrophic ill- depression in patients with cancer and found that the re- nesses are a set of diseases, such as cancer, defined by the ported prevalence (major depressive disorder: 0–38%; Taiwanese government; patients with catastrophic illness depression spectrum syndromes: 0–58%) varied signifi- certificates are exempt from copayments under the NHI cantly because of different conceptualizations of depres- program. Application for catastrophic illness certifi- sion, criteria used to define depression, methodological cates requires sufficient medical records and an inde- approaches to the measurement of depression, and study pendent peer review process. Therefore, in our study, populations [15]. Depression has been studied in pa- the diagnoses of gastric cancer were valid. Patients tients with cancer using a range of assessment methods, with gastric cancer and matched patients were identi- such as self-report rating scales, brief screening instru- fied from the NHI database. The Institutional Review ments, and structured clinical interviews. The methods Board of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital ap- commonly used are the Hospital Anxiety and Depres- proved this study (2013-06-010 BC). Written consent sion Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Hamilton Rating from the study patients was not required because the Scale for Depression questionnaire, and the Diagnostic NHI dataset consists of de-identified secondary data and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria, pub- used for research purposes, and the Institutional Re- lished by the American Psychiatric Association. In gen- view Board of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital eral, the more narrowly the term is defined, the lower issued a formal written waiver regarding the need for the reported prevalence of depression [15]. Bergquist et consent. al. found that the rate of depression among those with esophagus or gastroesophageal junction cancer ranged Study population from 27 to 44% [16]. Among these studies, diagnoses Using the discharge codes (151.X) (Malignant neoplasm were usually not clinically defined and there have been of stomach) of the ICD-9-CM in the Registry of Cata- few epidemiological studies specifically of depressive dis- strophic Illness, we identified 28,753 patients who were orders among gastric cancer patients. newly diagnosed with gastric cancer between January 1, To reduce the evidence-to-practice gap and overcome 2000, and December 31, 2011. We excluded patients the abovementioned shortage of previous studies and under 20 years of age and those who were diagnosed with based on the fact that higher incidence and mortality depressive disorders prior to the cancer diagnosis. Depres- rates of gastric cancer in Taiwan by annual government sive disorders were defined according to the relevant report and epidemiological studies, we designed a na- ICD-9-CM codes (depressive disorders: 296.2×–296.3×, tionwide population-based retrospective cohort study, 300.4, 311.x) [18]. In addition, we collected information using a different definition for depressive disorders, to on the antidepressant prescriptions that could be used to investigate the clinical pictures among the patients with treat depressive disorders. In order to ensure the validity gastric cancer and try to explore the differences on the of definition for depressive disorders in the study, the de- incidence of subsequent depressive disorders compared velopment of depressive disorders was based on the with the matched cohort using the Taiwanese National ICD-9-CM codes and the prescription of antidepressants Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Also, by at least one qualified psychiatrist for at least 30 days independent predictive variables for subsequent de- [18, 19].