Waiting time for cancer treatment and mental health among patients with newly diagnosed esophageal or gastric cancer: a nationwide cohort study

Table 2 Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)^* for mental disorders among patients without mental disorder history (n = 4,120), by different waiting time groups

Outcomes	Number of cases	1–8 days	9–17 days	18–29 days	30–60 days
All mental disorders	1268	1.07 (0.91–1.25)	1.00 (reference)	0.86 (0.73–1.01)	0.79 (0.67–0.93)
Mental disorders identified by in-/out-patient diagnosis	129	0.79 (0.47–1.34)	1.00 (reference)	0.85 (0.54–1.33)	0.56 (0.34–0.93)
Mental disorders identified through drug prescription	1227	1.09 (0.93–1.29)	1.00 (reference)	0.88 (0.75–1.04)	0.82 (0.69–0.97)
Depression (ICD10:F32,F33 or/and ATC N06A)	317	0.96 (0.69–1.34)	1.00 (reference)	0.91 (0.67–1.23)	0.66 (0.48–0.92)
Anxiety (ICD10:F40,F41 or/and ATC N05B)	799	1.21 (0.99–1.48)	1.00 (reference)	0.87 (0.71–1.06)	0.84 (0.68–1.03)

*Adjusted for age, sex, marital status (single, married, divorce, widow/widower), education level (<9 years, 9–12 years, >12 years), physical status (The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification <2, 2 and above), cancer type (esophageal/gastric cancer), stage (0, I, II, III, IV stage), and planned treatment type (curative, palliative, or supportive treatment), multidisciplinary meeting (yes/no), admission pathway (general physician referral / emergency intake), hospital volume (low, median, high)

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