Post-traumatic stress in cancer patients: prevalence and psychosocial correlates.

Authors

Amelie Fuchs, Elisabeth Lucia Zeilinger, Matthias Knefel, Timon Wnendt, Matthias Unseld, Rupert Bartsch, Thorsten Füreder, Markus Raderer, Peter Valent, Alexander Gaiger

Published in

Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences. Volume 35. Pages e70. Oct 13, 2026. Epub Oct 13, 2026.

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are a substantial yet underrecognised mental health concern in oncology. Large-scale epidemiological data across diverse cancer types are scarce. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to identify socio-demographic and psychosocial correlates in a large, unselected outpatient cohort.
In this cross-sectional study, 4,103 adult outpatients with solid tumours or haematologic malignancies were screened during routine care using the PTSS-8-Cancer scale. Socio-demographic, clinical and psychosocial variables were collected concurrently. Associations between screening results and patient characteristics were examined using correlational and chi-square analyses.
Overall, 32.5% screened positive for probable PTSD. Prevalence was highest in breast cancer (39.7%), female genital cancers (37.2%) and head and neck cancers (36.1%). A positive screening for PTSD was more common among women, younger patients, those with lower income, without a partner and with a history of psychiatric illness. While these associations were statistically significant, effect sizes were generally small.
One in three cancer outpatients experience substantial PTSS, with elevated prevalence in certain diagnostic groups. Small effect sizes for socio-demographic predictors underscore that psychological distress is broadly distributed. Findings support universal psychosocial screening and integration of trauma-informed care into oncology services to address a significant, population-level mental health burden.

PMID:
42864915
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Oct 2026.

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