Background

Development of depression in prostate cancer patients depends on multiple disease- and patient-related factors.

Objective

To investigate the risk of depression following radical prostatectomy focussing on the impact of surgery and subsequent treatment with salvage radiation or androgen deprivation therapy.

Design, setting, and participants

A population-based cohort study of 5570 men who underwent radical prostatectomy in Denmark from 1998 to 2011 was identified in the Danish Prostate Cancer Registry.

Outcome measurements and statistical analysis

Data on covariates and primary outcome defined as a hospital contact for depression or a redeemed antidepressant prescription were obtained from nationwide Danish registries. The risk of depression was evaluated using cumulative incidence functions and Cox models with time since surgery as an underlying time scale. Exposure to salvage procedures was included as time-varying covariates, and analyses were adjusted for confounders.

Results and limitations

The cumulative incidence of depression was increased in men who had undergone surgery compared with cancer-free men throughout follow-up of up to 18 yr, particularly among men on androgen deprivation therapy. Compared with no subsequent treatment, the risk of depression was increased with subsequent androgen deprivation therapy (hazard ratio [HR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4–2.3), salvage radiation (HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0–1.6), and the treatments combined (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.8–2.8) after adjustments for age, year of surgery, income, and cohabitation status. Further adjustment for comorbidity hardly changed the estimates.

Conclusions

Radical prostatectomy and subsequent salvage procedures increase the risk of depression, and men with subsequent androgen deprivation therapy are mainly at risk. Clinicians should thus be aware of depressive symptoms in patients receiving treatment for postsurgical relapse.

Patient summary

In a population-based study, we found that radical prostatectomy and subsequent treatments with either radiation or endocrine manipulation significantly increased the risk of developing clinical depression.