SynthesisAging clinical and experimental research2025
The bidirectional association of malnutrition with depression and anxiety in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence.
Synthesis in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Machine Learning Models for Predicting Pain, Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, and Malnutrition in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2026Pooled it
- The role of protein quality and amino acid composition in preventing sarcopenia and functional decline in older adults.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Interleukin-6, anxiety, and pre-treatment malnutrition in locally advanced head and neck cancer: a psychoneuroimmunological analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Nutritional interventions for late-life depression: evidence, mechanisms, and clinical assessment tools.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Evidence summary: Prehabilitation strategies for patients with primary liver cancer.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2025Review
- Chronic Psychological Stress in Oncogenesis: Multisystem Crosstalk and Multimodal Interventions.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Review
- Factors Influencing Malnutrition in Patients with Heart Failure: A Scoping Review Based on the Biopsychosocial Model.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnxiety and depression are common mental health problems in cancer patients. At the same time, cancer patients often suffer from disease-related catabolic dysregulation and malnutrition. Emerging evidence has suggested the potential link between mental disorders and nutritional status.
aimsThis study summarised the evidence for the association of malnutrition with anxiety and depression in cancer patients.
methodsA systematic search of PubMed and EMBASE databases was performed for observational studies published up to December 2024.
resultsForty-one articles were found eligible for inclusion in the systematic review, and twenty-nine in the meta-analysis. Compared with the normally nourished cancer patients, malnourished patients had a more than threefold (relative risk (RR) = 3.23, 95% CI 2.39, 4.38) and nearly twofold (RR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.48, 2.37) increased risk of depression and anxiety, respectively. Considering the studies that identified lower emotional status as a cause rather than an effect of malnutrition, the inverse association was confirmed only for depression (RR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.62, 2.49), but not for anxiety (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 0.68, 2.80). Finally, the standardised mean differences of the psychological scores showed significantly higher values in individuals with nutritional impairment compared to those with normal nutritional status (SMD = 0.69, 95% CI 0.50, 0.88 for depression and SMD = 0.54, 95% CI 0.26, 0.82 for anxiety).
conclusionsMental health problems such as anxiety and depression are associated with malnutrition in cancer patients.
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