Comparison of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms in patients with essential thrombocythemia, polycythemia vera, and myelofibrosis treated with interferon alpha

Abstract

Introduction: The study aims to analyze the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms in patients with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (essential thrombocythemia, polycythemia vera, and myelofibrosis) and to check whether individual side effects of interferon alpha treatment may contribute to the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. In addition, it was decided to check whether there were any relationships between age, gender, duration of treatment, and the intensity of anxiety, divided by the occurrence of individual side effects. Material and methods: The study involved 84 patients and was conducted at the Hematology Clinic of the University Hospital in Krakow and the Clinic of Hematology, Blood Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplantation in Wrocław. The following questionnaires were used: created by the author, David Goldberg General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ-28), and the Four-Dimensional Questionnaire (4DSQ). Results: The most frequently reported side effects of treatment were abdominal pain, fatigue, and bone and joint pain. Almost 40% of the respondents obtained a moderately and strongly increased result on the depression scale, less than 50% on the anxiety scale, and over 60% on the somatization scale. Somatic symptoms had the greatest impact on the occurrence of mental disorders, with anxiety symptoms being second in significance. There are differences in the severity of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms depending on the side effects of interferon alpha treatment. Conclusions: The finding of the above study indicates the need for further research into the importance of detecting depressive, anxiety, and somatic disorders, and to addressing concomitant physical symptoms, both in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms receiving interferon alpha and treated with other methods. In patients treated chronically, the occurrence of side effects of high intensity and lasting for a long time should alert medical personnel. The collected data on patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms who have to suffered from mental and physical symptoms of the disease or its treatment justifies the need for caring psychological, psychiatric, and educational care.