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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1469001
This article is part of the Research Topic Living With and Beyond Cancer Across the Lifespan View all 8 articles

Prevalence of mental disorders and their associations with age at diagnosis and time since diagnosis of nasopharyngeal cancer

Provisionally accepted
Wenxuan Wang Wenxuan Wang 1Yi-Shan Wu Yi-Shan Wu 2Li-Ping Qi Li-Ping Qi 2Anise M.S. Wu Anise M.S. Wu 3Yingying Zhu Yingying Zhu 4Wei-Jie Gong Wei-Jie Gong 5Shan Shan Guo Shan Shan Guo 2Yijun Hua Yijun Hua 2Donghua Luo Donghua Luo 2Qiu Yan Chen Qiu Yan Chen 2Yan-Qun Xiang Yan-Qun Xiang 2Jinxin Zhang Jinxin Zhang 1Haiqiang Mai Haiqiang Mai 2Ji-Bin Li Ji-Bin Li 2*
  • 1 Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), Guangzhou, China
  • 3 University of Macau, Taipa, Macau Region, China
  • 4 Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 5 Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite advancements in cancer treatment, understanding the long-term mental health implications for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) survivors remains an underexplored area. This study aims to examine the prevalence of mental disorders and their correlations with age at diagnosis and time since diagnosis among NPC survivors.A total of 1872 NPC patients were surveyed from September 2020 to June 2021 in this cross-sectional survey.Logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations of age at diagnosis and time since NPC diagnosis with the risk of mental disorders. Additionally, the potential nonlinear trend between these factors was examined using restricted cubic splines. Analyses were conducted both overall and stratified by gender. Gender interaction was also examined.The prevalences of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders were 32.4%, 33.2%, and 61.5%, respectively. Age at NPC diagnosis was significantly associated with an elevated risk of depression (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.75 for 30 -39 years old; 2.33 for 50 -59 years old; 2.59 for ≥ 60 years old) and sleep disorders (aOR: 2.41 for 40 -49 years old; 1.95 for 50 -59 years old; 2.26, for ≥ 60 years old), compared to patients diagnosed with NPC at age <30 years. Conversely, the risk of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders exhibited negative associations with the time since diagnosis, compared to patients <3 months. Notably, significant nonlinear associations were observed between time since diagnosis and the risk of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, which showed an initial increase, with the highest risk occurring at approximately 3.0 (ORmax: 2.7), 1.5 (ORmax: 2.1), and 4.0 (ORmax: 1.9) months since NPC diagnosis, followed by a gradual recovery to a lower risk level at around 12 months. No gender interactions were observed.The prevalence of mental disorders is notable among NPC survivors, showing a positive correlation with age at diagnosis while displaying a negative correlation with time since diagnosis, thus indicating the need for psychological support, especially within the initial several months following NPC diagnosis.

    Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Depression, Anxiety, Sleep Disorders, Age at diagnosis, Time since diagnosis

    Received: 23 Jul 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Wu, Qi, Wu, Zhu, Gong, Guo, Hua, Luo, Chen, Xiang, Zhang, Mai and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ji-Bin Li, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), Guangzhou, China

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