Treatment with Psychotropic Drugs in Oncology: Relevance Attributed to Possible Side Effects

Oncology patients are exposed to stress events associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer that can lead to significant losses in their quality of life. These patients may have significant psychiatric comorbidities and most of the times they are treated with chemotherapy which may have neuropsychiatric side effects or interact with psychotropic drugs. Patient's opinion and the shared therapeutic decision are the core of contemporary medicine. To know the preferences of the patients it is necessary to question them about this subject. We apply questionnaires to 83 oncology patients with mental health problems asking about the relevance they attributed to possible side effects of treatment with psychotropic. Regarding gender, there were no statistically significant differences in the relevance attributed to possible side effects of psychotropic drugs, except in the greater importance attributed by men to possible changes in sexual life and drug interactions. Those with higher educational levels attributed greater importance to some of the possible side effects of psychotropic drugs; as such schooling was positively associated with the relevance attributed to sleepiness, changes in sexual life and altered consciousness. We found that patients with long-term pathologies (Psychosis or Sleep Disorders) tend to attribute greater importance to a possible weight gain than patients with Adjustment Disorders. In patients who were still on antineoplastic treatment we verified that greater relevance was attributed to possible drug interactions. The different relevance attributed to the possible side effects of psychotropic drugs emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the specificities of each patient allowing the clinicians a more adequate therapeutic option.