Mental Health in Cancer Patients: Article Analysis Report

This report provides an analysis of a cross-sectional study by Saxena et al. (2018) investigating the spectrum of psychological disorders in cancer patients. The study aimed to identify the association between sociodemographic variables, tumor stage, treatment modality, and various psychological problems, including anxiety, depression, and somatization. The researchers used the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) to assess patients. The findings revealed that cancer patients experience not only depression but also other psychiatric morbidities, with psychological problems being more prevalent in patients from rural areas and women. The analysis discusses the study's methodology, strengths, limitations, and the level of evidence, as well as provides suggestions for future research and clinical practice, highlighting the importance of providing appropriate behavioral therapies to reduce psychological distress in cancer patients. The report also includes a review of relevant literature and a discussion of the study's validity and reliability.

Running head: ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Article analysis
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Synopsis of the article:
The purpose of the paper was to identify the spectrum of psychological disorder in cancer
patients and identify the association between sociodemographic variables and stages of variable,
the treatment modality with the various psychological problems among cancer patients. The
researchers suggested that cancer is one of the most leading cause of disability around the globe.
Cancer not only disrupt the normal function of the individuals but also subject them into high
psychological distress such as anxiety, depressive disorder as well as somatizations. A
significant number of patients with cancer have a poor prognosis of disease due to the high level
of psychological distress which makes them helpless and affects the quality of life. However,
no to very little regional study has been considering the psychological problem that is associated
with the sociodemographic status of the people. Hence, the study has been undertaken for
identifying the range of psychological disorders in cancer patients. Saxena et al. (2018),
conducted a cross-sectional study with cancer patients where inclusion criteria were diagnosed
with cancer patients aged more than 18 years. The researchers excluded the patients with
preexisting psychological distress very advance metastatic cancer, poor performance score, and
patients who were not willing to sign the form. For identifying, Patient Health Questionnaire
(PHQ) somatization as well as anxiety, depression screeners along with panic measure scale. The
result suggested that cancer patients not only experience depression but also psychiatric
morbidities. Psychological problems are highest amongst patients with cancer and belong to rural
areas. It was observed that psychological disorders are highest amongst women compared to
men. Highest anxiety is observed in the patients with stage ii cancer and the depression rate is
highest in the patient of stage iv cancer. Hence, it is critical to provide accurate treatment such

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ARTICLE ANALYSIS
as behavioral therapies for patients with cancer to reduce psychological distress, which can
reduce the faster progression of the disease.
Opinion:
Saxena et al. (2018), conducted a cross-sectional study which is considered as level four
of the evidence in the literature. Heale and Twycross, (2015), suggested that cross-sectional
studies are used for proving or disproving assumptions and it involves using different
characteristics like educational background, socio-demographic and ethnicity for studying
developmental psychology. In this paper, Saxena et al. (2018) provided an in-depth introduction
with the support of evidence. The researchers provided inclusion and exclusion criteria for
selecting the participants for the research which is crucial for conducting a valid experimental
research (Hidalgo-Manrique, Robson & Pérez-Prado, 2017). The researchers provided the study
setting and protocol which increases the validity of the research. The results were provided in the
tabular represents which provide the clear idea of obtained research. However, the study has few
limitations such as selection bias and homogeneity of the participants. In this study, the
researchers eliminated patients with very advanced cancer and recruited only stage II and stage
IV. In order to gather an accurate result, it is crucial to recruit cancer patients from every stage
(Schildcrout et al., 2019). The study was based on homogenous participants and hence, in order
to gather accurate information for the result, the patients from different characteristics are
required to gather.

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ARTICLE ANALYSIS
References:
Heale, R., & Twycross, A. (2015). Validity and reliability in quantitative studies. Evidence-
based nursing, 18(3), 66-67.
Hidalgo-Manrique, P., Robson, J. D., & Pérez-Prado, M. T. (2017). Precipitation strengthening
and reversed yield stress asymmetry in Mg alloys containing rare-earth elements: A
quantitative study. Acta Materialia, 124, 456-467.
Saxena, P. P., Kulkarni, V., Thapar, R., Pai, K., Gupta, A., & Kotian, H. (2018). Assessment of
spectrum of mental disorders in cancer patients. Journal of cancer research and
therapeutics, 14(6), 1312.
Schildcrout, J. S., Haneuse, S., Tao, R., Zelnick, L. R., Schisterman, E. F., Garbett, S. P., ... &
Heagerty, P. J. (2019). Two-phase, generalized case-control designs for quantitative
longitudinal outcomes. American journal of epidemiology.