The moderating effect of age on the 12-month prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders in adults with a lifetime history of cancer

Abstract

Objective: To determine how age may modulate the association of a history of cancer with a 12-month history of anxiety and depressive disorders.

Methods: The authors used population-based, cross-sectional surveys, the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys. These surveys were conducted in the United States in 2001-2003 and included 16,423 adult participants, of whom 702 reported a cancer history. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview evaluated the presence of a 12-month history of anxiety and depressive disorders.

Results: Among those with a cancer history, older adults (≥60 years old) were less likely than younger adults (18-59 years old) to have a 12-month history of an anxiety or depressive disorder. Compared with their peers without cancer, younger adults with a cancer history had more anxiety (23.8% versus 13.9%) and depressive (16.0% versus 9.5%) disorders, whereas older adults with a cancer history had lower levels of anxiety (3.7% versus 6.3%) and depressive (1.9% versus 3.9%) disorders. In multivariable modeling, there was a statistically significant interaction between age group and cancer history, with the risk for anxiety and depressive disorders elevated in the younger age group with a cancer history (odds ratio: 5.84 and odds ratio: 6.13, respectively) but decreased in the older age group with a cancer history (odds ratio: 0.55 and odds ratio: 0.45, respectively).

Conclusion: The authors' findings suggest a considerable age-dependent variation with regard to anxiety and depressive disorders in adults with a cancer history. Investigation of the mechanisms contributing to this apparent age differential in risk could have important mental illness treatment implications in this population.

Keywords: Epidemiology; comorbidity; diversity; resilience.