Risk for use of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics in partners of glioma patients-A nationwide study covering 19years of prescriptions.

Abstract

Suffering from malignant brain tumor is a stressful condition, for patients and their partners. In a retrospective cohort study using nationwide registries, we examined partners' risk for first use of antidepressants, anxiolytics, or hypnotics. We followed all 4373 partners of adults with glioma, diagnosed in 1998 to 2013 in Denmark and a cohort of 43808 partners of glioma-free persons matched 1:10. In Cox proportional hazard models, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for a first prescription of psychotropic medications (antidepressants, anxiolytics, or hypnotics) according to the partner's glioma status. Among partners of glioma patients, we further estimated HRs for a first prescription of psychotropic medication according to disease characteristics, sociodemographic factors, and bereavement. Two years after diagnosis, 29% of female and 21% of male partners of glioma patients had had a first prescription of psychotropic medication compared with 10% in female and 8% in male partners of glioma-free persons. Partners of glioma patients had a significantly increased, 4-fold higher risk for a first prescription of psychotropic medications in the first year after diagnosis than partners of glioma-free persons (HR 4.10, 95% CI, 3.80:4.43). Among partners of glioma patients, the risk was significantly reduced in bereaved compared with non-bereaved partners. We have documented, for the first time, that the psychological impact of a diagnosis of glioma is such a severe stress exposure that it increases the risk for having medication prescribed to treat symptoms of anxiety, sleep problems, and depression.