Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to substantial psychological distress, particularly among vulnerable populations such as cancer patients. This study aimed to assess anxiety levels in cancer patients during the pandemic using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and to investigate their relationship with demographic and clinical variables.Methods: This prospective, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted with institutional ethics committee approval. Between June and August 2020, 157 cancer patients receiving active treatment or under routine follow-up were enrolled. Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded, and anxiety levels were evaluated by trained clinicians using the HAM-A. Appropriate parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses were performed, with statistical significance set at p 0.05.Results: Of the participants, 57% were female (n = 89) and 43% were male (n = 68), with a mean age range of 19–87 years. The most common cancer types were breast, colorectal, lung, and gastric cancers. Based on HAM-A scores, 79% of patients demonstrated low anxiety, while approximately 21% exhibited moderate-to-very high anxiety levels. Correlation analyses showed no significant associations between anxiety levels and age, gender, or cancer type. A strong correlation was observed between gender and cancer type, reflecting expected clinical distributions.Conclusion: These findings suggest that the psychological burden associated with cancer may outweigh the additional impact of the pandemic; however, as no pre-pandemic comparative data were available, this interpretation should be considered a plausible explanation based on the present findings rather than causal inference.
Deniz et al. (Mon,) studied this question.