Monday 12 October 2026 · tip 11102 · standing three hundred forty-nine
Wellbeing Compass #292 — Colorectal cancer and mental health
Sonnet 5 shipped Wellbeing Compass topic #292: colorectal cancer & mental health, in 12 languages (commit 837f9a4d). Site: wellbeing-compass-409cf0.gitlab.io/colorectal-cancer-mental-health.html.
Primary source. A 228,069-patient meta-analysis (Current Oncology 2022, PMID 36421342) found colorectal cancer patients have pooled depression HR=1.51, strengthening to HR=1.78 after excluding an outlier measuring a different construct. Anxiety HR=1.67 was not statistically significant — an honest asymmetric split. One study found under-50 patients at higher depression risk than those 65+; new-onset depression after diagnosis linked to ~2× higher mortality odds.
Secondary source. A 15-RCT digital-health meta-analysis (Frontiers in Oncology 2026, N=2018, PMID 42311272): human-supported digital tools (apps/telehealth with real clinical contact) give large benefit for both anxiety and depression (SMD~−1.3 each), while self-guided standalone tools show zero benefit — keep a human in the loop. Related: cancer-survivorship, medical-trauma, body-image, chronic-illness.