Assessment of Suicide Risk among Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients

Objective: We aimed to assess clinical (type, grade, symptom, quality of life), demographical, and psychological (social support, anxiety, and depression) risk factors of suicidality among newly diagnosed cancer patients in Turkey.Method: 122 cancer patients within their first month of diagnosis were enrolled in the study. Sociodemographic Form, Suicide Probability Scale (SPS), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), European Organization for Research and Treatment (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire (QLQ-C30), Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were given to the patients. Results: There were no relationships between SPS scores and age, gender, having metastatic cancer, being religious, marital status, having health insurance or employment. The EORTC QLQ-C30 cognitive function (p= 0.003, r=-0.267) and emotional function (p= 0.006, r=-0.249) and social function (p= 0.019, r=-0.212) were found to be negatively and weakly correlated with SPS. Among ESAS variables, only severe insomnia was significantly correlated with high SPS scores (p= 0.012). There were no statistical significance between SPS scores and having anxiety (p=0.110) or depression (p=0.591). There was no statistically significant relationship between SPS and MSPSS scores.Discussion: There have been no study published in the literature that assesses the correlation between suicide risk and a variety of clinical and sociodemographic characteristics among Turkish cancer patients who have just received a diagnosis. According to our results, special attention must be given to cancer patients with severe insomnia and poorer cognitive, emotional, and social functioning.