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Relation of surgery, tumor site, and age group to the loss of reality testing in Japanese patients with malignant tumors: a study of a hospital-based sample with a consultation-liaison service.

Yoshimasu K, Tanaka K, Kiyohara C

Department of Hygiene, School of Medicine, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan. kyoshi@wakayama-med.ac.jp

The relation between surgery and the loss of reality testing (LRT) in Japanese patients with malignant tumors were examined, taking into account the influence of the tumor sites and age groups. The patients were comprised of 277 men and 225 women with malignant tumors in Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan, who underwent a check-up at the Department of Neuropsychiatry for the first time using the consultation-liaison system. Those with known schizophrenia, dementia, mental retardation, and paranoid or schizoid (schizotypal) personality disorder were excluded. Surgery was statistically significantly associated with LRT in elderly men (> or =65 years of age), and in men with malignant tumors of the digestive organs (odds ratio [OR], 9.7; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 3.2-29.3). Even after adjusting for tumor site and age, surgery was statistically significantly associated with LRT in men (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.4-4.6) and nearly significantly associated in women (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.9-3.6). There were no material associations between surgery and LRT in patients with malignant tumors of sex-specific organs or the head and neck area. The present study showed a positive relationship between surgery and LRT in Japanese men and women with malignant tumors. The association was stronger in elderly patients. As for tumor site, surgery was most strongly associated with an increased risk of LRT in patients with malignant tumors of the digestive organs.

Published 17 May 2005 in Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 59(3): 259-65.
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