Neurobiological and psychological evidence of chronic stress in prostate cancer patients

To measure the prevalence and severity of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), hypo‐ and hypercortisolaemia, and their association in a sample of prostate cancer (PCa) patients, 97 Australian PCa patients completed a background questionnaire and the GAD‐7, and provided a sample of saliva collected 30–45 min after waking. The mean GAD7 score was 9.67 (SD = 3.09), and prevalence rates for current anxiety were higher than those reported for non‐PCa males of a similar age. Mean salivary cortisol concentrations (30.78 nmol/L, SD = 13.97 nmol/L) were also higher than for age‐comparative non‐PCa men. There was a significant inverse correlation between GAD and cortisol (r = −. 209, p