Author:
Göbel Philipp,Kuba Katharina,Götze Heide,Mehnert-Theuerkauf Anja,Spitzer Carsten,Hartung Tim,Esser Peter
Abstract
Abstract
Purpose
Fear of cancer progression and
recurrence (FoP) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are syndromes commonly seen in cancer patients. This study applied network analysis to investigate how symptoms of both concepts are interconnected.
Methods
We used cross-sectional data from hematological cancer survivors. A regularized Gaussian graphical model including symptoms of FoP (FoP-Q) and GAD (GAD-7) was estimated. We investigated (i) the overall network structure and (ii) tested on pre-selected items whether both syndromes could be differentiated based on their worry content (cancer related vs. generalized). For this purpose, we applied a metric named bridge expected influence (BEI). Lower values mean that an item is only weakly connected with the items of the other syndrome, which can be an indication of its distinctive characteristic.
Results
Out of 2001 eligible hematological cancer survivors, 922 (46%) participated. The mean age was 64 years and 53% were female. The mean partial correlation within each construct (GAD: r = .13; FoP: r = .07) was greater than between both (r = .01). BEI values among items supposed to discriminate between the constructs (e.g., worry about many things within GAD and fear not to endure treatment within FoP) were among the smallest so our assumptions were confirmed.
Conclusions
Our findings based on the network analysis support the hypothesis that FoP and GAD are different concepts within oncology. Our exploratory data needs to be validated in future longitudinal studies.
Funder
José Carreras Leukämie-Stiftung
Universitätsmedizin Rostock
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC