Cancer Patient's Depression Affects Family

A recent study from the University Hospital of Turku in Finland is one of few to study the effect a cancer patient's depression has on his or her family, particularly on young children. Dr. Florence Schmitt and colleagues conducted a survey of 381 families in which a parent had cancer that included 639 parents and 489 children from six European countries.

The researchers found that 35 percent of mothers with cancer said they were depressed and 28 percent of fathers with cancer said they were depressed. Factors such as family structure, amount of time since cancer diagnosis, socioeconomic status and number of children did not affect the family's depression. However, if the parent with cancer was depressed, the family was significantly more likely to show problems with function.

The study authors recommended that support systems for cancer patients be more family oriented and child centered when providing psychosocial care. The study appears in the Nov. 24, 2008, online version of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.