Psychiatric treatment in men with prostate cancer--results from a Nation-wide, population-based cohort study from PCBaSe Sweden

Aim

To explore whether the self-reported psychological distress among men with prostate cancer was to the extent that it required psychiatric treatment.

Methods

PCBaSe Sweden, a merged database based on the National Prostate Cancer Register including 97% of all prostate cancers registered as well as age-matched controls. We calculated relative risks and 95% confidence intervals to compare risks of psychiatric treatment due to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder controlling for age and socio-economic factors. We used odds ratios to compare use or no use of antidepressants.

Findings

In total 72,613 men with prostate cancer and 217,839 men without prostate cancer were included for analyses. Psychiatric hospitalisation due to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder were significantly increased (RR 1.29, (95% CI 1.14-1.45), RR 1.42 (95% CI 1.12-1.80) and RR 1.61 (95% CI 1.16-2.24), respectively). However, hospitalisations due to anxiety were only increased in men with more advanced tumours RR 2.28 (95% CI 1.45-3.57). The use of antidepressants was increased for all men with prostate cancer RR 1.65 (95% CI 1.54-1.77) and treatment strategies RR 1.93 (95% CI 1.75-2.13).

Interpretation

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer had increased risk of psychiatric treatment for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and use of antidepressants regardless of risk group and treatment strategy compared to age-matched controls, whilst more advanced prostate cancer was associated with severe anxiety disorders.