International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | June 2019 | Vol 7 | Issue 6 Page 2116 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Shafi S et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2019 Jun;7(6):2116-2120 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Psychological impact of cancer on patients in a tertiary care centre: a prospective study Saba Shafi 1 , Manan Shah 2 *, Junaid Shafi 3 , Momin Shah 4 , A. W. Khan 5 INTRODUCTION Being diagnosed with cancer is extremely traumatic for an individual. It is not only the initial diagnosis but the ongoing treatment and associated co-morbidities which make it even more stressful. Coping, distress, and support are crucial psychological issues facing every cancer ABSTRACT Background: Diagnosis of cancer, although physical in nature, has far reaching emotional impact on the person. The study aimed to analyse the psychological impact of cancer on patients with a focus on levels of distress and psychiatric comorbidity. Methods: It was a prospective study conducted on 169 consenting individuals in the department of radiation oncology, SKIMS, Jammu and Kashmir, India, in collaboration with the department of psychiatry, SKIMS medical college, Jammu and Kashmir, India, from November 2013 to January 2015. The NCCN distress thermometer was used to observe the temporal variations in the levels of distress over a period of time. Results: Anxiety disorders (panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder) were the most common psychiatric disorders diagnosed constituting 59%, followed by depression in 29%. About 12% patients were not diagnosed with any psychiatric ailment. One female patient with anxiety disorder developed acute psychosis. Counselling and psychotherapy provided improvement in 45% patients with cancer. In all, 86.4% required medication during the course of treatment and majority had improvement with it. A mean distress score of 7.73 was seen before, 8.29 during and 7.66 after treatment. Conclusions: Cancer bore a significant impact on the psychological bearing of patients, ranging from anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression to psychosis. Hence there is a need for monitoring psychological symptoms in cancer patients and development of appropriate psycho-oncology services. Keywords: Anxiety, Cancer, Depression, Distress, Psychological impact 1 Department of Pathology, Delhi State Cancer Institute, New Delhi, India 2 Department of Clinical Oncology, Delhi state Cancer Institute, New Delhi, India 3 Department of Emergency Medicine, Max Smart Hospital, Saket, New Delhi, India 4 Department of Medicine, ASCOMS, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India 5 Department of Psychiatry, SKIMS, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India Received: 16 October 2018 Revised: 06 May 2019 Accepted: 07 May 2019 *Correspondence: Dr. Manan Shah, E-mail: manshah777@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20192483