Mental Health Resource Use Among Patients Undergoing Curative Intent Treatment For Bladder Cancer

Mental health distress may be experienced by patients with bladder cancer. The magnitude of the problem can be determined by assessing the mental healthcare service (MHS) use. Querying the Ontario Cancer Registry, they identified 4,296 patients with bladder cancer who underwent cystectomy (n = 3,332) or curative-intent radiotherapy (n = 964). They used population-level databases to determine MHS use (visits to general practitioner, psychiatrist, emergency department or hospitalization). Analyses suggest that patients undergoing treatment for bladder cancer frequently use MHS, particularly in the peri-treatment period. Overall, higher MHS use was observed among female patients, but males had a greater incremental rise in the post-treatment period compared with baseline. They noted a statistically significant increase in MHS use patients following surgery or radiotherapy among male whereas female patients only had an elevation following surgery. This study thereby justifies screening for mental health concerns in this population.

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