European journal of haematology
October 13, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Elevated Risks for Depression and Anxiety Following Diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma.
Rydahl KFK, Øvlisen AK, Horsbøl TA, Möller S, Nielsen LK, Østergaard SD, El-Galaly TC, Rohde C.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Patients with multiple myeloma had more than double the risk of depression or anxiety compared with matched people from the general population, mostly in the first year after diagnosis.
What was studied
Danish nationwide registry cohort of 3861 patients with symptomatic or smoldering myeloma and 19,305 age- and sex-matched comparators.
Key findings
- Depression and/or anxiety occurred in 315 MM patients (8.2%) vs 660 comparators (3.4%), adjusted HR 2.56 (95% CI 2.23-2.94)
- The association was strongest in symptomatic MM (adjusted HR 2.63) but remained elevated in smoldering MM (adjusted HR 1.44)
- Risk was highest in the first year after diagnosis and attenuated over time
Clinical relevance
Supports routine attention to mental health, particularly in the first year after diagnosis.
Who should care
Limitations
Registry data may miss milder, untreated cases and cannot show causation or the effect of specific therapies.
Psychological morbidity is a substantial, early concern in myeloma and deserves proactive screening.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) may be particularly vulnerable to depression and anxiety following diagnosis due to high disease burden, treatment-related side effects, and the incurable nature of the disease.
Methods
In this nationwide population-based cohort study, we used Danish population-based registries to investigate the risk of depression and anxiety in patients with MM (symptomatic MM and smoldering MM) compared with age- and sex-matched individuals from the general population.
Results
A total of 3861 patients with MM and 19 305 matched comparators were included (median age 73 years; 59% male). During follow-up, depression and/or anxiety occurred in 315 MM patients (8.2%) and 660 comparators (3.4%). MM was associated with a substantially increased risk of depression and/or anxiety (adjusted HR 2.56, 95% CI 2.23-2.94). The association was strongest among patients with symptomatic MM (adjusted HR 2.63, 95% CI 2.21-3.12) but remained elevated among patients with smoldering MM (adjusted HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.10-1.87). The association was strongest during the first year following diagnosis and attenuated over time.
Conclusion
These findings demonstrate an elevated risk of depression and/or anxiety among patients with both symptomatic and smoldering MM and highlight the need for increased awareness of psychological morbidity, particularly during the first year after diagnosis.
DOI
10.1111/ejh.70339
PMID
42869643
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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