Are depression and anxiety disorders associated with adductor pollicis muscle thickness, sleep duration, and protein intake in cancer patients?

Introduction: Psychological disturbances may be associated with compromised body composition and food intake. However, this has not been elucidated totally. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression, and whether there is an association between these disorders and adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT), protein intake and sleep duration, in gastrointestinal cancer patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study evaluated 117 patients of both genders diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. Protein intake was assessed by the USDA food database; sleep duration by self-administered questionnaire; and APMT using the skinfold. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to measure anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D). Results: A total of 117 (65% male) patients were assessed, of which 40 (34%) had anxiety and 39 (33%) depression. There was a negative correlation between APMT and anxiety (r = -0.20, p = .020) and depression (r = -0.19, p = .03), and between anxiety and sleep duration (r = -0.30, p = .001). Although there was an inverse association between anxiety and APMT (OR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.79-0.99, p = .032) and sleep duration (OR: 0.71, 95%CI: 0.58-0.87, p = .001), when adjusted for gender and age, the association remained only between anxiety and sleep duration (OR: 0.71, 95%CI: 0.58-0.87, p = .001). Conclusion: One-third of gastrointestinal cancer patients were classified as expressing anxiety and depression. Additionally, only sleep duration is associated with anxiety.