In a meta-analysis study just published on-line in Psycho-Oncology, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression in cancer patients assessed by diagnostic interviews and self-report instruments, and to study differences in prevalence between type of instrument, type of cancer and treatment phase.
Depending on the way depression was measured in the different studies, the prevalence of depression ranged from 8 to 17%, and from 3% in patients with lung cancer to 31% in patients with cancer of the digestive tract. Prevalence of depression was highest during treatment, but 8-15% prevalence of depression was still found one year or longer after diagnosis.
