Depression and coping strategies among parents of children with cancer

Background: Depressive symptoms have been reported to be more prominent in parents of children with cancer. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its association with socio-demographic factors and coping strategies among parents of children with cancer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) and Penang General Hospital (PGH).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were enrolled according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and assessed on their socio-demographic profiles and children’s details. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to screen participants with high risk of depression. The diagnosis of MDD for those with high risk was established using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.), and coping strategies were assessed using Brief COPE scale.
Results: A total of 162 parents participated in this study. 17.3% of participants screened high risk for depression were further assessed with M.I.N.I. The prevalence of MDD was 7.4%. Participants in the depressed group used denial (p= 0.000), behavioural disengagement (p= 0.002) and self-blame (p= 0.002) as their coping strategies more frequently than participants without depression. Use of denial was found to be the predictor of MDD (OR=2.12, p=0.008, CI=1.22, 3.68).
Conclusion: Screening of parents of children with cancer for depression should not be overlooked.

背景：研究表明，患有癌症儿童的父母抑郁症状更为显著。本研究旨在确定马来西亚国民大学医学院（UKMMC）和槟城普通医院（PGH）中患有癌症儿童的父母中重度抑郁症（MDD）的患病率及其与社会人口学因素及应对策略的相关性。方法：本研究为横断面研究。参与者根据纳入和排除标准进行招募，并对其社会人口学特征和儿童详细信息进行评估。采用患者健康问卷（PHQ-9）筛查有较高抑郁风险的患者。对于风险较高的参与者，使用迷你国际神经精神病学访谈（M.I.N.I.）进行MDD的诊断，并使用简式COPE量表评估应对策略。结果：共有162位父母参与本研究。在筛查出有较高抑郁风险的患者中，17.3%的患者接受了M.I.N.I.的进一步评估。MDD的患病率为7.4%。与未抑郁组相比，抑郁组的参与者更频繁地使用否认（p=0.000）、行为脱离（p=0.002）和自我谴责（p=0.002）作为他们的应对策略。研究发现，否认的使用是MDD的预测因素（OR=2.12，p=0.008，CI=1.22，3.68）。结论：不应忽视对患有癌症儿童的父母进行抑郁筛查。