Gender difference in relation to depression and quality of life among patients with a primary brain tumor

Objective. – We studied the relationship between depressive symptoms and quality of life (QOL) as well as functional status in primary brain tumor patients at recurrent measurements. Differences in QOL between depressive and non-depressive samples by gender were controlled for tumor characteristics and patients' psychosocial factors.Materials and methods. – The data consisted of 77 patients with a primary brain tumor, 30 males and 47 females. Depression of the patients was assessed by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Crown-Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI), functional status by Karnofsky Performance scale (KPS) and QOL by Sintonen's 15D before tumor operation as well as at 3 months and at 1 year from surgical operation of the tumor.Results. – The level of QOL in females was lower compared to that of males. Depression was the main predictor for worse QOL in the patients at all measurements. Depressive patients with a benign brain tumor had significantly worse QOL versus non-depressive ones.Discussion and conclusion. – Decreased QOL was strongly related to depression, especially among patients with a benign brain tumor. Further studies are needed to find whether sufficient depression therapy improves the QOL of patients.