Mental Health Utilization Increased Around Time of Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Increase seen for both psychotropic medication and mental health service use

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Aug. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There is an increase in psychotropic medication use and mental health service use around the time of prostate cancer diagnosis, according to a study published online July 3 in Psycho-Oncology.

Tenaw Tiruye, Ph.D., from the University of South Australia in Adelaide, and colleagues used registry data linked to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare Benefits Schedule data for 13,693 prostate cancer patients diagnosed between 2012 and 2020 to estimate the proportion and rates of psychotropic medication and mental health service use before and after diagnosis.

The researchers found that 15 percent of men started psychotropic medications and 6.4 percent sought out mental health services for the first time after diagnosis. From five years before to five years after diagnosis, psychotropic medication use rose from 34.5 to 40.3 percent, including an increase in use of antidepressants (from 20.7 to 26.0 percent) and anxiolytics (from 11.3 to 12.8 percent). The mental health service use increase (from 10.2 to 12.1 percent) occurred mostly from general practice mental health visits (from 7.8 to 10.6 percent). A significant rise in medication and service utilization immediately before and in the first two years following prostate cancer diagnosis was revealed in interrupted time series analyses.

“Mental health outcomes of men with prostate cancer may be improved with early mental health screening, particularly during the diagnosis process, to enable early intervention,” the authors write.