Clinic of Medical Oncology, MHAT "Nadezhda", Sofia, Bulgaria.
Clinic of Medical Oncology, UMHAT "St. Marina", Varna, Bulgaria.
Biosci Trends. 2020 Mar 16;14(1):35-41. doi: 10.5582/bst.2019.01296. Epub 2020 Feb 6.
Our study explored the potential relationship between time perception and the level of anxiety in cancer patients prior to starting chemotherapy. Time perception was assessed in 162 chemonaïve patients with solid tumors by evaluating each subject's prospective estimation of how fast one minute passed compared to the actual amount of time passed. The median value of time perception was used to stratify the patients into two categories of fast and slow time perception. We used the generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) as a screening tool for detecting levels of anxiety. Scores ≥ 10 were considered high. In total, 45 (27.8%) patients had high levels of anxiety. The pattern of the time perception distributions significantly changed according to the reported levels on the GAD-7 scale. Scores ≥ 10 correlated with fast time perception and the female gender. Patients with a fast time perception had significantly higher levels of anxiety (8.44 ± 5.1) than patients with a slow time perception (3.49 ± 4.3). ROC analysis revealed that at the optimal cut-off value of time perception, clinically significant levels of anxiety can be discriminated with an AUC = 0.78 (95% CI: 0.70-0.85, p < 0.001), a sensitivity of 82.2% and a specificity of 64.1%. Moreover, in a multivariate logistic regression model, fast time perception was an independent predictor of clinically significant levels of anxiety (OR: 8.24; 95% CI: 3.16-21.41, p < 0.001). Time perception is a novel potent indicator for high levels of anxiety in cancer patients.
我们的研究探讨了癌症患者在开始化疗前时间感知与焦虑水平之间的潜在关系。通过评估每个患者对一分钟过去的速度与实际过去时间的预期，对 162 名接受初次化疗的实体瘤患者进行了时间感知评估。中位数时间感知值用于将患者分为快速和慢速时间感知两类。我们使用广泛性焦虑障碍问卷（GAD-7）作为筛查工具，检测焦虑水平。得分≥10 被认为是高的。总共有 45 名（27.8%）患者有高水平的焦虑。时间感知分布的模式根据 GAD-7 量表上报告的水平显著改变。得分≥10 与快速时间感知和女性性别相关。快速时间感知的患者焦虑水平明显更高（8.44 ± 5.1），而慢速时间感知的患者焦虑水平为 3.49 ± 4.3。ROC 分析显示，在时间感知的最佳截断值处，可区分具有临床意义的焦虑水平，AUC = 0.78（95%CI：0.70-0.85，p < 0.001），敏感性为 82.2%，特异性为 64.1%。此外，在多变量逻辑回归模型中，快速时间感知是具有临床意义的焦虑水平的独立预测因子（OR：8.24；95%CI：3.16-21.41，p < 0.001）。时间感知是癌症患者高水平焦虑的一个新的有力指标。
