Introduction & Objective: Definitive diagnosis of cancer in patients, the duration of treatment, and grueling treatment methods can provide a basis for psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety in patients; accordingly, this study was conducted to evaluate the factors affecting these disorders in patients who were newly diagnosed with cancer.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 122 cancer patients in 1397 in Semnan, Iran. Data were collected using the HADS questionnaire. In order to compare the subgroups in terms of frequencies, Chi-square test and, if necessary, more accurate Fisher test were used. Numerical variables were compared using T-test or Mann Whitney U test.

Results: In the present study, the mean of total anxiety was about 28.6% and the mean of total depression among patients was 26.2%. 80% of women and 74.3% of people without income had anxiety and there was a significant relationship between gender and income with anxiety in cancer patients (p <0/05). The variables of age, sex, income level, education level were not significantly associated with depression (P> 0.05).

Conclusion: Considering the levels of psychiatric disorders, especially anxiety and depression in cancer patients, to control this issue, providing psychiatric interventions in the treatment program of these patients can be effective.

Key words: Cancer, Anxiety, Depression, Psychiatric disorders