The interplay between physical and mental health and its impact on outcomes for hemopoietic stem cell transplant patients.

Purpose of review: The incidence of mental health conditions within hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients is high and has profound impacts on quality of life after transplant. Mental health is an underexplored and underutilized outcome in this patient population.

Recent findings: Standard mental health interventions in this patient population have shown limited results. Multiple factors including acuity of systemic illness, proinflammatory states, heterogeneous patient populations, and use of specific therapeutics could impact results. This presents the opportunity to identify new areas of improvement, such as focusing on leukocyte recovery, exogenous steroid use, and cytokine response to inform new bedside interventions.

Summary: Overall, interventions incorporating the biological mechanisms of mental health are underutilized in the HSCT patient population and offer a novel approach to improving morbidity, mortality and quality of life.