The relationship between distress and prolonged hospitalization after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

We analyzed distress associated with a prolonged hospital stay in 21 patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Levels of depression and anxiety before and 90 days after transplantation were measured in the 21 patients and changes during the study period were compared between 10 of the patients, who were scheduled for discharge (discharge group), and the remaining 11 patients, who were expecting a prolonged hospital stay (prolonged hospitalization group) 90 days after transplantation, using unpaired t-test. Changes in the levels of depression and anxiety during that period in patients in the discharge group compared with those in the prolonged hospitalization group were as follows: HADS total score, －1.5±2.4 vs. 3.6± 5.2 (P＜0.05); anxiety score, －1.3 ±1.6 vs. 0.18±3.0 (P＞0.05); depression score, －0.2 ±2.7 vs. 3.5±3.6 (P＜0.05). Our results suggest that a prolonged hospital stay can statistically relate to an increase in transplant patients’ distress.