HPRHealth Psychology ResearchTBA2420-8124Health Psychology Research10.4081/hpr.2013.e2GeneralDepression treatment in  individuals with cancer:  a comparative analysis with  cardio-metabolic conditionshttps://healthpr.org/journal/HPR/1/1/10.4081/hpr.2013.e2B. RanePallavi,SambamoorthiUsha,MadhavanSuresh2013112013-01-02A clear picture of the current state of nation wide depression treatment practices in individ uals with cancer and depression does not exist in the United States (US). Therefore, the pri mary objective of this study was to examine rates of any depression treatment among indi viduals with cancer and depression in the US. To better understand the relationship between any treatment for depression and presence of cancer, we used a comparison group of individ uals with cardio-metabolic conditions owing to the similar challenges faced in management of depression in individuals with these condi tions. We used a retrospective cross-sectional design and data from multiple years of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative household-survey on healthcare utilization and expenditures. Study sample consisted of adults aged 21 or older with self reported depression and cancer (n=528) or self-reported depression and diabetes, heart disease or hypertension (n=1643). Depression treatment comprised of any use of antidepres sants and/or any use of mental health counsel ing services. Treatment rates for depression were 78.0% and 81.7% among individuals with cancer and cardio-metabolic conditions respec tively. After controlling for socio-demographic, access-to-care, number of physician-visits, health-status, and lifestyle risk-factors related variables; individuals with cancer were less likely to report any treatment for depression (Adjusted Odds Ratio=0.67; 95% Confidence Interval=0.49, 0.92) compared to individuals with cardio-metabolic conditions (P≤0.01). Our findings highlight the possibility that compet ing demands may crowd out treatment for depression and that cancer diagnosis may be a barrier to depression treatment. antidepressants, cancer, cardio-meta bolic, depression, mental health counseling

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