Mental Health Burden of German Cancer Patients before and after the Outbreak of COVID-19: Predictors of Mental Health Impairment.

Alexander Bäuerle,Adam Schweda,Hannah Kohler,Dirk Schadendorf,Ken Herrmann,Martin Teufel,Mitra Tewes,Benjamin Weismüller,Madeleine Fink,Venja Musche,Kira Schmidt,Eva-Maria Skoda

doi:10.3390/ijerph18052318

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze individual changes in cancer patients’ mental health before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, and to explore predictors of mental health impairment. Over a two-week period (16–30 March 2020), 150 cancer patients in Germany participated in this study. Validated instruments assessed demographic and medical data, depression and anxiety symptoms (PHQ-2, GAD-2), distress (DT), and health status (EQ-5D-3L). All instruments were adapted to measure the individual mental health before the COVID-19 outbreak. COVID-19-related fear, trust in governmental actions to face COVID-19, and the subjective level of information regarding COVID-19 were measured. Cancer patients showed a significant increase in depression and anxiety symptoms and distress, while health status deteriorated since the COVID-19 outbreak. Increased depression and generalized anxiety symptoms were predicted by COVID-19-related fear. Trust in governmental actions to face COVID-19 and COVID-19-related fear predicted increases in distress. Higher subjective levels of information predicted less increasing anxiety symptoms and distress. Present data suggests that cancer patients experienced a significant increase in mental health burden since the COVID-19 outbreak. Observed predictors of mental health impairment and protective factors should be addressed, and appropriate interventions established, to maintain mental health of cancer patients during the pandemic.

Highlights

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), elicited by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has led to a global public health crisis.On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the spread of the virus as a pandemic, the first since H1N1 in 2009/2010 [1]
The purpose of this study is to present an approach in which a sample of 150 cancer patients assesses their current mental health and, retrospectively, their mental health prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, as well as to examine predictors of change
This study investigated the changes in mental health and health status of cancer patients since the outbreak of COVID-19, as well as predictors of mental health impairment

Summary

Introduction

The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), elicited by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has led to a global public health crisis. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the spread of the virus as a pandemic, the first since H1N1 in 2009/2010 [1]. The pandemic’s magnitude is continuing to rise with over 83,322,449 confirmed infections and 1,831,412 confirmed deaths (as of 3 January 2021) [2]. The lack of vaccinations, up until the end of 2020, and published maps and institutional affil-.

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