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.