Depression and Anxiety Disorders in Patients with Reported Prolactinoma Using Cabergoline Therapy: A Comparative Analysis with Controls

Background: Prolactinoma is the most common functional pituitary tumor.Although effective in reducing prolactin and tumor size, cabergoline can have psychiatric side effects.This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in patients with recurrent prolactinoma receiving cabergoline treatment. Materials and Methods:Patients aged 18 years, diagnosed with prolactinoma and achieving biochemical remission on cabergoline therapy, and the control group were included in the study.The participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire.Data collected included the number of years of diagnosis, prolactin levels, cumulative cabergoline dosage, and duration of cabergoline use. Results:The study included 56 patients with recurrent prolactinoma and 56 controls.The mean age of both groups was 39.4 years [standard deviation (SD)=10.5],with 62.5% female and 37.5% male.The average duration of cabergoline treatment was 40.39 months (SD=30.2).Patients with prolactinoma had a median depression score of 5 [interquartile range (IQR) 2.25-8], whereas the control group had 6 (IQR 4-9).For anxiety, the prolactinoma patients had a median score of 8 (IQR 5-11.75),compared to 7 (IQR 5-9) in the control group.The results revealed no significant difference in depression (p=0.32) and anxiety scores (p=0.19) between the groups.Among the prolactinoma patients, 37.5% (n=21) were found to have symptoms of depression, and 41.1% (n=23) of the control group exhibited symptoms of depression.Anxiety disorders were present in 37.5% (n=21) of the prolactinoma patients and 23.2% (n=13) in the control group.The prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders was not significantly different between the groups (p=0.69 and p=0.1 respectively). Conclusion:The study found no significant differences in the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders between patients with recurrent prolactinoma who received cabergoline treatment and the control group.These results suggest that cabergoline dosage and duration do not strongly influence the aforementioned psychiatric comorbidities.