Psychological distress and associated factors among cancer patients in public hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Cancer has great implications for psychological, social, economic, and emotional dimensions. Psychological distress is overwhelming among cancer patients following a confirmed diagnosis. However, little is known about the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among cancer patients in Africa Sub-Saharan. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among cancer patients in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among cancer patients from September 15, 2019, to June 30, 2020. A total of 386 cancer patients selected through a simple random sampling technique participated in the study. Data were collected by an interview-administered questionnaire to evaluate psychological distress with a distress thermometer and social support with the Oslo 3-items Social Support Scale. The collected data were entered into Epi-data version 4.2 and exported into SPSS 25 for analysis, and then binary and multivariate logistic regressions were done to identify the association between dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: A total of 386 study participants were included in the study with a response rate of 91.4%. The prevalence of psychological distress among cancer patients in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was 64.5%. Age > 45 years [AOR = 0.41; 95% CI (0.22–0.77)], marital status of being divorced [AOR = 3.3; 95%CI (1.23–8.71)] and married [AOR = 3.2; 95%CI (1.03–10.40)], rural residence [AOR = 1.5; 95%CI (1.15–5.18)], cancer stage II [AOR = 3.9; 95%CI (1.90–15.50)], stage III [AOR = 3.5;95%CI (1.45–8.44)] and stage IV [AOR = 3.4; 95%CI (1.90–10.11)], co-morbidity [AOR = 0.07; 95%CI: (0.03–0.17)], and moderate social support [AOR = 0.36; 95%CI (0.14–0.60)] and strong social support [AOR = 0.06; 95%CI (0.03–0.12)] were found to be significantly associated with psychological distress. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of psychological distress among cancer patients in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was high, and age, marital status, place of residence, cancer stage, co-morbidity, and social support were associated with psychological distress. Therefore, interventions focusing on these findings require special emphasis during designing interventions aimed at decreasing psychological distress.