Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34161601›Full record

Trial reportCancer2021

Loneliness and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in older breast cancer survivors and noncancer controls.

Kelly E Rentscher, Xingtao Zhou, Brent J Small, Harvey J Cohen, Asma A Dilawari, Sunita K Patel, Traci N Bethea, Kathleen M Van Dyk, Zev M Nakamura, Jaeil Ahn and 9 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Cancer, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Moderated mediating effects of perceived loneliness and economic burden between social support and mental health for lung cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
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  11. Analysis of loneliness and its related factors in patients undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
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  14. Review
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  17. Loneliness as a predictor of mortality in cancer patients, a cohort studyBiomedica : revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud · 2024
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors at 10 institutions in 1 country.

Kelly E RentscherCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.ORCID 0000-0003-1887-3953
Xingtao ZhouLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia.ORCID 0000-0002-5164-125X
Brent J SmallSchool of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
Harvey J CohenCenter for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Asma A DilawariLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia.
Sunita K PatelOutcomes Division, Population Sciences, City of Hope National Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.ORCID 0000-0002-9023-8391
Traci N BetheaLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia.ORCID 0000-0003-3205-2078
Kathleen M Van DykSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.ORCID 0000-0003-1500-930X
Zev M NakamuraDepartment of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.ORCID 0000-0001-9695-1457
Jaeil AhnDepartment of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Biomathematics, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia.
Wanting ZhaiLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia.
Tim A AhlesDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
Heather S L JimMoffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida.ORCID 0000-0001-7353-3711
Brenna C McDonaldDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Andrew J SaykinDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.
James C RootDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
Deena M A GrahamJohn Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, New Jersey.
Judith E CarrollCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.ORCID 0000-0001-5516-0819
Jeanne S MandelblattLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia.ORCID 0000-0002-2490-005X
Georgetown University · USUniversity of California, Los Angeles · USIndiana University Health · USMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · USCity Of Hope National Medical Center · USDuke University · USHackensack University Medical Center · USMoffitt Cancer Center · USUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · USUniversity of South Florida · US

Funding

X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHYP30CA008748 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RES · PI Hongbiao Carl Lekaye · 1985 to 2026
$347.4M
Research Education ComponentP30AG010133 · NIA · INDIANA UNIV-PURDUE UNIV AT INDIANAPOLIS · PI SAYKIN, ANDREW J · 1991 to 2020
$37.3M
Training and Career Development CoreU54CA132378 · NCI · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI Bao Q Vuong · 2008 to 2026
$28.9M
Training and Career Development and Education CoreU54CA137788 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · PI ADRIANA ESPINOSA, FRANCESCA M GANY · 2008 to 2026
$28.1M
Resource Core 3 - Metabolomics CoreP30AG028716 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI Sarah B. Peskoe · 2006 to 2026
$24.6M
Research Education ComponentP30AG072976 · NIA · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI ANDREW J SAYKIN · 2021 to 2026
$24.1M
UNC BIRCWH CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMK12HD001441 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI BOGGESS, KIM A · 2000 to 2019
$9.3M
OLDER BREAST CANCER PATIENTS: RISK FOR COGNITIVE DECLINER01CA129769 · NCI · GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY · PI AHLES, TIM ALAN, MANDELBLATT, JEANNE · 2009 to 2020
$7.3M
Bio-behavioral Research At The Intersection of Cancer and AgingR35CA197289 · NCI · GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY · PI MANDELBLATT, JEANNE · 2015 to 2021
$6.2M
Cognition In Older Breast Cancer Survivors: Treatment Exposure, APOE, & SmokingR01CA172119 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · PI AHLES, TIM ALAN, HURRIA, ARTI · 2013 to 2017
$3.5M
Mobile Device CBT for Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Dysfunction: A Multi-Center Randomized Controlled TrialR01CA244673 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI FERGUSON, ROBERT J, MCDONALD, BRENNA C · 2020 to 2024
$3.0M
Cognitive Aging, Alzheimers disease, and Cancer-related Cognitive DeclineR01AG068193 · NIA · GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY · PI MANDELBLATT, JEANNE, SAYKIN, ANDREW J · 2020 to 2023
$2.8M
NCI NIH HHS K01 CA212056NCI NIH HHS K01CA212056NCI NIH HHS K08 CA241337NCI NIH HHS K08CA241337NCI NIH HHS P30 CA008748NCI NIH HHS P30CA008748NCI NIH HHS R01 CA129769NCI NIH HHS R01CA129769NCI NIH HHS R01 CA172119NCI NIH HHS R01CA172119NCI NIH HHS R01 CA237535NCI NIH HHS R01 CA244673NCI NIH HHS R01CA244673NCI NIH HHS R35 CA197289NCI NIH HHS R35CA197289NCI NIH HHS U54 CA132378NCI NIH HHS U54 CA137788NCI NIH HHS U54CA137788NIA NIH HHS K01 AG065485NIA NIH HHS K01AG065485NIA NIH HHS P30 AG010133NIA NIH HHS P30AG010133NIA NIH HHS P30 AG028716NIA NIH HHS P30AG028716NIA NIH HHS P30 AG072976NIA NIH HHS R01 AG068193NIA NIH HHS R01AG068193NICHD NIH HHS K12 HD001441
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had wide-ranging health effects and increased isolation. Older with cancer patients might be especially vulnerable to loneliness and poor mental health during the pandemic.

methodsThe authors included active participants enrolled in the longitudinal Thinking and Living With Cancer study of nonmetastatic breast cancer survivors aged 60 to 89 years (n = 262) and matched controls (n = 165) from 5 US regions. Participants completed questionnaires at parent study enrollment and then annually, including a web-based or telephone COVID-19 survey, between May 27 and September 11, 2020. Mixed-effects models were used to examine changes in loneliness (a single item on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression [CES-D] scale) from before to during the pandemic in survivors versus controls and to test survivor-control differences in the associations between changes in loneliness and changes in mental health, including depression (CES-D, excluding the loneliness item), anxiety (the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and perceived stress (the Perceived Stress Scale). Models were adjusted for age, race, county COVID-19 death rates, and time between assessments.

resultsLoneliness increased from before to during the pandemic (0.211; P = .001), with no survivor-control differences. Increased loneliness was associated with worsening depression (3.958; P < .001) and anxiety (3.242; P < .001) symptoms and higher stress (1.172; P < .001) during the pandemic, also with no survivor-control differences.

conclusionsCancer survivors reported changes in loneliness and mental health similar to those reported by women without cancer. However, both groups reported increased loneliness from before to during the pandemic that was related to worsening mental health, suggesting that screening for loneliness during medical care interactions will be important for identifying all older women at risk for adverse mental health effects of the pandemic.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAnxietyBreast NeoplasmsCancer SurvivorsCOVID-19FemaleHumansLonelinessMental HealthMiddle AgedPandemicsSARS-CoV-2Surveys and Questionnairesanxietybreast cancercancer survivorshipcoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)depressionlonelinessolder adultspsychological stress

Identifiers

PMID34161601
PMCPMC8419003
OpenAlexW3175857885

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.