Psychological Distress and Fear of COVID-19 in cancer patients and normal subjects—A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Abstract Objectives: The aims of this study is to evaluate fears, worries, and anxiety among cancer patients and healthy subjects. Methods: The current study included in two study groups (SGs) with 195 respondents (93 colorectal patients (CCSG-1) and 102 control subjects (CSSG-2). The purpose of this study was to estimate the levels of post-traumatic symptoms, depression, anxiety and fear of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Results: In our analysis, we found a slightly higher level of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in cancer group than the control group Furthermore, we showed no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the impact of fear of COVID- 19 infection. Then, we evaluated the relationship among the Anxiety, Depression and PTDS (scales) with total score FCV-19 scale in both groups through a multiple linear regression analysis. We reported that each explicative variable had moderate influence on the Fear of COVID-19 in cancer group, while in control group, Anxiety and PTDS had a significant influence on the fear of COVID19 in comparison with the depression. Conclusions: Our results indicate a significant psychological vulnerability in both groups during the strict lockdown. Specifically, we highlight that the control group suffers a negative impact on their mental state. With regard to cancer group, we noted that anxiety, depression, and distress and fear of COVID-19 levels do not increase in significant manner during the pandemic. A possible explanation can be that they are more worried about the delay of their treatment due the COVID-19 emergency situation. Practice implications More efforts are necessary to better understanding of the mental well-being of the cancer patients and healthy subjects to improve psychological interventions and treatments. during this public health emergency.