HealthDay (10/7, Thompson) reports on a new study that finds mental health problems in one-third of German cancer patients. The study, published yesterday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, notes 32% of cancer patients’ responses to researchers were consistent with “a full-blown psychological disorder.”
Investigators from the University of Leipzig interviewed 2,100 patients aged 18-75 and compared their responses to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Mental illness rates varied based on cancer type, ranging from a low of 20% for patients with pancreatic, prostate, stomach, or esophageal cancers and a high of 40% for patients with breast or head and neck cancer or melanoma.
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— “Cancer Diagnosis Can Take Toll on Mental Health, Study Finds,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 6, 2014.