Adjustment disorders to cancer disease – diagnostic difficulties of depression

Diagnosis of depression in cancer patients according to ICD-10 criteria is difficult due to the influence of many factors. Many factors which occur over arrange of time scales make it difficult to not only precisely define the onset of depression but also the overlap between symptoms of cancer and its treatment and typical signs of depressive illness. 1100 patients were examined in Regional Cancer Centre in Gdańsk between 2002 and 2012. One third of these patients appeared to have depressive symptoms of two syndromes: depressive and anxious-depressive. These patients were predominantly women (87%). Within youngers patients depression with anxiety was more common while in patients with advanced stages of cancer depressive syndromes without anxiety was more prevalent. Final group of patients consisted of those who had major depression and they stated that they didn’t have sufficient support and that their key problem was the depression itself. However patients with adjustment disorders commented that family problems were their principal cancer. The criteria of ICD-10 were not met by this group of patients therefore there is an urgent need to rewrite these criteria.