Depression and the occurrence of gastric cancer: a meta-analysis based on their relationship and epidemiological evaluation

Aims To explore the epidemiological impact of depression on the occurrence of gastric cancer. Subject and methods A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted and the quality of involved studies were evaluated according to the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The association between depression and the occurrence of gastric cancer is measured by calculating the combined odds ratio (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). The epidemiological effect of depression was estimated by attributable risk percentage (ARP) and population attributable risk percentage (PARP). Results Combined with 24 eligible studies, the risk of gastric cancer in patients with depression is 1.84 times higher than that in normal people (95%CI:1.61-2.09). The corresponding results of ARP and PARP were 45.65% and 5.86% of total meta-analysis, respectively. Conclusion There is a positive correlation between depression and the occurrence of gastric cancer, which may be a risk factor for gastric cancer occurrence. Our results indicated that the discovery and treatment of depression was important for the prevention of gastric cancer from an epidemiological perspective.