Study of the stress in adults diagnosed with meningioma: Insights from a tertiary neurosurgical hospital

Background

Meningiomas are the most common type of primary brain tumor, originating from the meninges – the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Several well-studied risk factors for meningiomas include gender, age, radiation exposure, genetic factors, and hormonal factors. Moreover, the influence of a person's psycho-emotional stateon their overall health and mental well-being, specifically stress, iscurrently a significant and relevant topic of discussion.

Aims

This case–control study aimed to study the association between perceived stress, chronic stress, and meningioma in adult patients.

Methods and results

The study included cases, which comprised adult patients with histologically confirmed meningioma, and controls, consisting of adult patients with no history of brain cancer. Data collection involved the use of three types of questionnaires. The first questionnaire focused on patients' personal information, geographic factors, and lifestyle habits. Two additional questionnaires “The Perceived Stress Scale” and “The Chronic Stress Scale” were employed to assess perceived stress and chronic stress. The questioning was conducted by a neurologist. Microsoft Excel and Stata 14 were used for the data analysis. Overall, 148 questionnaires were completed and included in the analyses. The average age of participants was 45.60 ± 13.90 years. Females outnumbered males in both groups. Patients with meningioma diagnosis had a higher level of perceived high stress compared to those without meningioma (p = .045). Respondents without a diagnosis of meningioma have reported having more chronic stress in general and ambient problems (p = .004), financial issues (p = .006), work (p < .001), non-employment (p = .008), love and marriage (p < .001), isolation (p < .001), and residence (p < .001). Patients with meningioma, however, had less chronic stress compared to meningioma-free patients.

Conclusion

This study revealed no discernible connection between stress and meningioma within our study sample. Further research with matched case–control methodology with a larger sample size is warranted to thoroughly evaluate the potential role of stress in patients with meningioma.