Câncer e saúde mental na covid-19 uma revisão narrativa

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been worrying cancer patients and healthcare teams in this sector. The high degree of spread of the coronavirus, together with the immunosuppressed condition associated with cancer and its treatment, increase the probability that the cancer patient will contract COVID-19. The purpose of this article is to present a bibliographic review on the impacts of COVID-19 on cancer patients and the health team involved in their treatment. 24 articles in English and Portuguese were analyzed. The largest number of publications on the impact of COVID-19 and its consequences on mental health problems in patients and in the multidisciplinary team was published in specific journals on cancer (34%) and the authors belonged to countries that have presented a greater number of infected and deaths. The mental health problems of cancer patients associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are related to increased levels of stress, depression, anxiety, fear of death and physical suffering, especially for those in palliative treatment, in addition to guilt and mourning; concern about contracting the virus; concern about delay in treatment; isolation and difficulty in receiving family support during treatment, among others. In relation to health professionals, the recurring themes were work overload, lack of resources and medical supplies, difficult decisions to modify or postpone treatments, fear of contagion, fear of infecting family members, lack of PPE, masks , medications, among others that favor burnout syndrome. Together, the data reveal the need for special attention to the mental health of these samples during and after the pandemic.