Is symptom burden a predictor of anxiety and depression in patients with cancer about to commence chemotherapy?

Objectives: To assess the prevalence, severity and distress from physical symptoms and the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients about to undergo chemotherapy for potentially curable cancers; and to explore the presence of symptom clusters and investigate their relationships with anxiety and depression. Design, participants and setting: Cross‐sectional survey of 192 patients with breast or gastrointestinal cancers or lymphoma before first ever chemotherapy treatment with curative intent. Main outcome measures: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess anxiety and depression and the Chemotherapy Symptom Assessment Scale to measure physical symptom prevalence, severity and distress (“bother”). Results: Prevalence of anxiety was 45% and depression 25%. The most prevalent physical symptoms were pain (48%), feeling unusually tired (45%) and difficulty sleeping (45%). Physical symptoms rated as most severe were pain (28%), difficulty sleeping (26%) and feeling unusually tired (19%). Physical symptoms causing the most distress were pain (39%), constipation (18%) and nausea (16%). Factor analysis of symptom distress scores indicated that five factors explained 36.7% of the variance and included: gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, pain), general malaise (tiredness, feeling weak, headaches), emotional (feeling depressed, feeling anxious), nutritional (changes to appetite, weight loss or gain) and general physical (mouth/throat problems, shortness of breath). Regression analysis indicated that symptom distress for the malaise (β = 1.46; P