Population-based retrospective study to investigate preexisting and new depression diagnosis among head and neck cancer patients

• Prevalence of depression prior to cancer was approximately 11% in head and neck cancer patients.
• Approximately 9% of head and neck cancer patients had incident depression within one year.
• This study supports the critical need of screening for depression within this cancer population.
• Future studies needed to examine the effects of depression on cancer outcomes.

This study aimed to estimate the pre-cancer prevalence and post-cancer incidence of depression in older adult head and neck cancer patients. Using SEER-Medicare files, cancer was identified from SEER data and depression diagnosis was identified using Medicare claims. Of 3533 head and neck cancer patients, 10.6% were diagnosed with depression during the two years prior to cancer diagnosis, and an additional 8.9% developed depression in the year following cancer diagnosis. This study supports the critical need of screening for depression throughout cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as a preventative approach in depression development in the older head and neck cancer patient population.