Gabriela Ford

Professor Benjamin Swett

English 21003

Spring 2022

Literature Review

1. Introduction.

Cancer and anxiety are two different conditions that affect young people. Anxiety is a mental health illness that affects many people with different types of cancer. Pediatric cancer patients are among the most affected people. But people of all ages are affected with anxiety as they are diagnosed with cancer/treatment. There is a significant connection between cancer patients and anxiety. There have been significant studies, reports and statistics done to showcase the correlation between cancer and anxiety. There has been some evidence that shows the lower positive side of anxiety and then there has been evidence that showcases the negative side of how it affects cancer patients overall. Overall, I found three scholarly articles that showcase study reports and evidence to provide anxiety statistics. I will also provide the connection between cancer patients and how anxiety affects them physically and emotionally. I will also synthesize my critique and further questions that should be addressed to fully gain a new perspective. This literature review will illustrate whether anxiety affects cancer patients of all ages or mainly young people. 

2. Anxiety’s correlation with different types of cancer 

Breast cancer is mainly found in woman due to women having more breast cells. Breast cancer found in women also correlates with a psychological approach. Mental health plays a huge role when being diagnosed with many different types of cancer. There was a study done on women who were interviewed during a “within two months of treatment” and “7 month” (Joan R Bloom). In this study there is data and evidence that displays “general measures of health status, measures of adjustment to illness, information about how their breast cancer was detected and their knowledge of the treatment and preferences for making treatment decisions, and socio-demographic characteristics including measures of work history, health insurance, family composition and family relationships.” The outcome depended on the “Emotional support and instrumental support are also intermediate outcomes as higher levels of these indicators of functional support are predicted to result from larger social networks.” This displays the data of women with breast cancer are higher when it comes to having emotional support. In another article named “Anxiety among Inpatients with Cancer: Findings from a Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Vietnam’’, the author informs that the more emotional support they have like counseling or therapy, they have a lower chance of mental illness like anxiety. Cancer stages affect anxiety in a huge way as well.  For example, “Regarding cancer stages, 40.8% of the patients (n = 208) were in stage II, 21.4% (n = 109) in stage III, and 4.5% (n = 23) in stage IV. At the time of interview, more male patients than their female counterparts were diagnosed with metastases (67.1% vs 55.4%); this difference was statistically significant.” (Dung Viet, et al). The author’s stance is to inform the audience of the higher cancer stage, the higher risk for mental health to be impacted. Moreover, age also plays a huge role as well as anxiety. For example, “A literature review revealed that although HSCC experience negative emotions like fear, anger, loneliness, shock, jealousy, helplessness, guilt, sadness, and social withdrawal, there is little clinical agreement among the results of studies concerning the prevalence of depres- sion and anxiety symptoms in HSCC.(Ali KARAYAGMURLO, et al) All articles convey depending on the specific cancer type and stage will increase anxiety. But all the studies have shown that emotional support is needed to gain a healthier mental health and get back to good physical health. 

3. Anxiety Impact on Cancer Patients

Cancer in pediatric patients is more common than we think. Dealing with this ongoing disease, there is a mental aspect. There were many studies done to show that many children are also suffering from anxiety/depression. For example, “One hundred twenty subjects aged 8-16 years old were included in the study.” The results of the statistics are evident and connect with anxiety impacting cancer. There were many studies done to show that many children are also suffering from anxiety/depression. For example, “One hundred twenty subjects aged 8-16 years old were included in the study.”(Ali KARAYAĞMURLU,et al) and “This clearly indicates that withgoing in cancer makes anxiety worse. Cancer correlates with anxiety and can cause negative impacts with going treatment. This also correlates to anxiety impacting women who have a specific cancer like breast cancer. Studies have shown that in women emotional support is needed to help them deal with their ongoing disease. For example, “Women with poorer mental well-being were more likely to report their use of ineffective coping strategies such as eating or drinking too much and the recent use of psychological counseling including participation in a support group or receiving counseling from a mental health professional.” (Joan R Bloom) When women suffer from anxiety and cancer, emotional support is a key factor with any person with cancer and anxiety considering it helps you cope. It takes a lot of strength mentally. But the impact comes at all ages with people suffering from cancer. If cancer is long term studies have shown a decline with anxiety. For example, “Patients with more advanced stages of cancer and patients with metastasis were more likely to have higher levels of anxiety than those who presented no sign of metastasis. The longer the patients had cancer, the less anxious they became.” (Viet Dung, et al) This connects all articles considering anxiety be increased depending on the type and stage of cancer, it also depends on the severity of the specific cancer. It can increase depending on coping strategies and gender as well as age. 

4. All age cancer patients Results

Many case studies in Vietnam display different levels of anxiety in. cancer patients of all ages. There was a questionnaire done on 510 patients.  The studies’ main goal was to examine the anxiety level in cancer patients. The author clearly indicates the data from the study showing the correlation between cancer and anxiety. For example, “This shows the difference in anxiety based on cancer stages. Although the different stages impacted the level anxiety, it did in fact decrease.” (Viet Dung, et al) For example, “It decreased by an average of 0.05 points for each year added to the duration of diagnosis.” But even though it decreased, the average was dependent on the cancer stage. This clearly shows the author’s conclusions of anxiety affecting patients of all ages including different genders. Women who suffer from breast cancer can decrease anxiety depending on the support they receive. “Women received more emotional support if they were on chemotherapy (p<0.01) or reported positive lymph nodes (p<0.05) and they received more instrumental support if they reported having a mastectomy (p<0.01)” ( Joan R Bloom) which clearly indicates the more support the lower anxiety levels.  Anxiety in cancer patients can decrease as you get used to cancer and are getting psychological support. People from younger ages also I think further questions should be asked: Does the type of cancer matter or affect anxiety/ stress? Overall, the authors clearly display the data and percentages in cancer patients having a high or lower rate of anxiety. The results of the studies indicate that anxiety will increase or decrease depending on the age, type of cancer, gender and emotional support. Cancer has many aspects including anxiety, but it can be solved with psychological support. 

5. Conclusion

The articles clearly indicate that anxiety overall has a negative impact on people of young to old ages that experience cancer patients.  I think all these articles come together to show the correlation between how high levels of anxiety affect the stage of cancer. It is very important to stay educated on this topic to gain further knowledge of what a person goes through. Anxiety affects many people with different stages of cancer and it’s important to get emotional support when dealing with mental health and dealing with their physical health. The whole purpose is that anxiety levels increase with stronger treatment and stage of cancer. The three articles illustrate evidence of anxiety increasing and decreasing based on the specific cancer and stage. The articles convey a strong perspective on how mental health can impact sickness even more. Anxiety and cancer go hand in hand but with emotional support is a path to better mental health. 

Works Cited

Bloom, Joan R, et al. “Sources of Support and the Physical and Mental Well-Being of Young Women with Breast Cancer.” Social Science & Medicine, Pergamon, 9 Oct. 2001, Retrived 16 March 2022,  www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953600004408.

 Dung Viet, et al. “Anxiety among Inpatients with Cancer: Findings from a Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Vietnam.” Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center, SAGE Publications, 22 July 2019, Retrieved March 16,2022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6647225/.

KARAYAGMURLO, Ali et al. “The Assessment of Quality of Life, Depression, and Anxiety in Siblings of Children With Cancer: A Case Control Study” Turkish Journal of Oncology, Social Science and Medicine, Volume 53, Issue 11, December 2001, Retrieved 16 March 2022