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Photo by Rhoda Baer
Cancer survivors’ moods are impacted—both positively and negatively—by their spouses’ moods, according to research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
In the study, cancer survivors whose spouses reported depressed moods were more likely to be depressed after about a year of follow-up, and survivors whose spouses reported better mental and physical health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were less likely to be depressed.
However, survivors’ moods did not have the same impact on their spouses.
“We were surprised that the effects of the spouses on the survivors were so much larger in this study than the effect of the survivors on their spouses,” said study author Kristin Litzelman, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. “We expected to see a more reciprocal relationship.”
Dr Litzelman and her colleagues conducted this research in an attempt to understand how cancer survivors and their families influence one another. The team hoped to identify ways to improve the healthcare both parties receive and thereby improve their health and well-being.
The researchers analyzed data from 910 cancer patients and their spouses, comparing them to 910 couples without any kind of cancer-related health problem.
The team used statistical models to assess how each spouse’s quality of life or depression at one time point was associated with his or her partner’s risk of depression around 11 months later. The researchers took into account a person’s previously reported mood, demographic characteristics, and other factors.
The results showed that, when spouses reported feeling depressed, cancer survivors were about 4 times more likely to report being depressed 11 months later (odds ratio [OR]=4.27). This association was stronger among female cancer survivors (OR=9.49) than male survivors (OR=3.98).
Cancer survivors whose spouses reported better HRQOL had a 30% decrease in depressed mood per 10-point improvement in HRQOL score. The ORs were 0.72 for mental health and 0.68 for physical health. The associations between spousal HRQOL and survivor depressed mood were similar for male and female survivors.
The researchers noted that cancer survivors’ moods did not have a significant impact on their spouses’ risk of depressed mood 11 months later.
And the team did not see mood associations in couples without any cancer-related health problems.
“This finding certainly needs to be backed up by other studies, but it highlights the importance of family well-being in cancer survivor outcomes,” Dr Litzelman said. “Our research highlights that spouses need to take care of themselves, not just for their own sake, but also for the sake of the cancer survivor.”
“Our findings also suggest that, when caring for cancer survivors, clinicians may want to assess the well-being of spousal caregivers. Future research could test whether including caregivers in the survivorship care plan might help to improve outcomes for both caregivers and for cancer survivors.”
