Illness perceptions are a potential predictor of psychological distress in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a 12-month prospective, longitudinal, observational study.

Depressive and anxiety symptoms are common psychiatric disorders among cancer patients. Among the 137 patients with NMIBC (Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder cancer), 101 patients who provided answers to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) completed the 12-month longitudinal study. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the interactions between psychiatric problems and illness perceptions (IPs). Patients with NMIBC displayed less positive IPs and more negative IPs. IPs have explained 42.0% and 39.5% of the variance in anxiety at 3 and 12 months of follow-up. IPs have explained 41.4% and 45.5% of the variance in depressive symptoms at 3 and 12 months of follow-up. The results demonstrated IPs are significantly associated with psychological distress and taken as the potential predictor of psychological distress in patients with NIMBC. Interventions focusing on the modification of poor IPs may be feasible and effective in improving psychiatric disorders and quality of life among patients with NIMBC.