Association of supportive care needs and quality of patient-centered cancer care with depression in women with breast and cervical cancer in Mexico.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the prevalence of depression, supportive care needs (SC-needs), and quality of patient-centered cancer care (PCC-quality) between women with breast cancer and women with cervical cancer and to assess the association of SC-needs and PCC-quality with depression.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a public oncology hospital in Mexico City with 247 breast cancer and 165 cervical cancer ambulatory patients aged ≥18 years with at least one hospitalization and ≤5 years since diagnosis. Participants completed the short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey, the Patient-Centered Quality of Cancer Care Questionnaire, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We performed multiple logistic regression analyses to evaluate the association between SC-needs, PCC-quality, and probable presence of depression.

RESULTS

Nearly all women reported SC-needs-mainly health system and information needs, followed by physical and psychological needs. PCC-quality was substandard in both groups. PCC-quality was lowest when addressing biopsychosocial needs, followed by information for treatment decision-making needs. Cervical cancer patients had probable depression more often (41.2%) than those with breast cancer (29.5%). Having unmet psychological and care needs was associated with increased odds of probable depression, while high-quality timely care was associated with reduced odds of probable depression.

CONCLUSION

In Mexico, women with cervical and breast cancer face unmet SC-needs, probable depression, and substandard PCC-quality, pointing to priority areas for improvements in cancer care.