The Level of Emotional Dysadaptation in Patients with Cerebral Meningiomas at the Stage of Preparation for Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Relevance. Stereotactic radiosurgery is the method of choice for asymptomatic cerebral meningiomas of small size. The psychoemotional state of patients diagnosed with cerebral meningioma for whom indications for stereotactic radiosurgery have been determined is poorly understood. The study of a real traumatic situation, the assessment of the level of emotional maladaptation of patients and the identification of factors contributing to its development are an important task for clinical psychology and neurosurgery.

The Aim of Study. To assess the level of emotional maladaptation in patients with cerebral meningiomas at the stage of preparation for stereotactic radiosurgery.

Material and Methods. The sample consisted of 57 patients aged 30 to 85 years with cerebral meningiomas. Psychological diagnostics was performed before stereotactic radiosurgery at the Radiosurgery Center of the N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Joint Venture. The following techniques were used: Holland’s modified “Distress Thermometer” technique, PCL-5, Beck depression scale, Spielberger-Khanin anxiety scale. Computer processing of the results was carried out in IBM SPSS Statistics 23.

Results. A high level of situational anxiety was revealed on the eve of stereotactic radiosurgery in 32% and personal anxiety in 42% of patients. Symptoms of depression of varying severity were detected in 44% of patients. Moderate severity of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in 19%, high in 4%. A high level of situational anxiety on the eve of surgery is twice as common in young patients as in the elderly (44% versus 22% in the elderly).

Conclusion. In patients with cerebral meningioma, at the stage of preparation for stereotactic radiosurgery, manifestations of emotional maladaptation are noted, expressed by symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, high levels of subjectively perceived stress, situational and personal anxiety. The subjective assessment of the level of perceived stress and situational anxiety on the eve of stereotactic radiosurgery is influenced by the age of patients.

1. Kharlamenkova NE, Nikitina DA. The Nature of Post-Traumatic Stress in Life-Threatening Diseases. Russian Foundation for Basic Research Journal. 2019;4(104):49–58. https://doi.org/10.22204/2410-4639-2019-104-04-49-58

2. Lippitz BE, Bartek J Jr, Mathiesen T, Förander P. Ten-year followup after Gamma Knife radiosurgery of meningioma and review of the literature. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2020;162(9):2183–2196. PMID: 32591948 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-020-04350-5

3. Pentsak YY, Kholmogorova AB, Evdokimova OL, Grin AA. Psychoemotional Characteristics of People Diagnosed with Meningioma. Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology. 2025;14(1):36–44. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2025140104

4. Vlasov EA. Statistika i epidemiologiya opukholey golovnogo mozga. (In Russ.) Available at: https://rentgenogram.ru/articles/statistika-iepidemiologiya-opuholej-golovnogo-mozga/ [Accessed Aug 26, 2025]

5. Jacobsen PB, Donovan KA, Trask PC, Fleishman SB, Zabora J, Baker F, et al. Screening for psychologic distress in ambulatory cancer patients. Cancer. 2005;103(7):1494–1502. PMID: 15726544 https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.20940

6. Tarabrina NV, Kharlamenkova NE, Padun MA, Khazhuev IS, Kazymova NN, Bykhovets YuV, et al. Intensivnyy stress v kontekste psikhologicheskoy bezopasnosti. Moscow: Institut psikhologii RAN Publ., 2017. (In Russ.)

7. Tarabrina NV. Praktikum po psikhologii posttravmaticheskogo stressa. Saint Petersburg: Piter Publ., 2001. (In Russ.)

8. Zaytsev YuA, Khvan AA. Standartizatsiya metodik diagnostiki trevozhnosti Ch. Spilbergera – Yu. Khanina i Dzh. Teylor. Psikhologicheskaya diagnostika. 2011;3:19–34 (In Russ.)

9. Williams T, Brechin D, Muncer S, Mukerji N, Evans S, Anderson N. Meningioma and mood: exploring the potential for meningioma to affect psychological distress before and after surgical removal. Br J Neurosurg. 2019;33(4):383–387. PMID: 30829086 https://doi.org/10.1080/02688697.2019.1571163

10. Kasper G, Hart S, Samuel N, Fox C, Das S. Anxiety and depression in patients with intracranial meningioma: a mixed methods analysis. BMC Psychol. 2022;10(1):93. PMID: 35395829 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00797-6

11. Klimova MO, Tsiring DA. Personal and Psychological Characteristics of Cancer Patients: Their Dynamics and Impact on the Course of the Disease and Survival. Society: Sociology, Psychology, Pedagogics. 2022;(12):116–122. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24158/spp.2022.12.18

12. Jungo A, McKinley R, Meier R, Knecht Urspeter, Vera L, P´erez-Beteta J, et al. Towards Uncertainty-Assisted Brain Tumor Segmentation and Survival Prediction. In: Crimi A, Bakas S, Kuijf H, Menze B, Reyes M (eds.). Brainlesion: Glioma, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injuries. BrainLes 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 10670. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75238-9_40

13. Bichenko IV. Characterological Features of the Personality Affecting the Development of Somatoform Disorders. Smolensk Medical Almanac. 2021;(4):162–166. (In Russ.) https://10.37963/SMA.2021.4.253

14. Kharlamenkova NE. Emotsional’no-lichnostnye izmeneniya u bol’nykh meningiomoy v postoperatsionnom periode: otchet o NIR (zaklyuch.): grant RFFI No 18-013-00324. Moscow, 2018. (In Russ.)

15. Kapasheva GA, Burlenova SO, Barikova AR. Psikhologicheskie osobennosti koping-strategiy u razvedennykh zhenshchin. Innovation Science. 2016;(6-3):224–226. (In Russ.)

16. Menlibayeva K, Nurimanov C, Nuradilov S, Akshulakov S. Study of the stress in adults diagnosed with meningioma: Insights from a tertiary neurosurgical hospital. Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2024;7(7):e2105. PMID: 39051552 https://10.1002/cnr2.2105