ObjectiveTo investigate the estimated prevalence of depression and its associated factors among inpatients in the Department of Oncology in general hospitals. MethodsOn October 29th, 2013, we surveyed all hospitalized patients from the Department of Oncology in West China Hospital, Sichuan University. The questionnaire on patients’ demographic characteristics and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were combined to form one questionnaire to investigate the incidence of depression in hospitalized patients in general hospitals and its influencing factors. ResultsWe gave out 546 questionnaires and retrieved 528 with a retrieval rate of 96.6%. Seven questionnaires had 15 or more empty items and were deleted. The final number of valid questionnaires was 521, with a validity rate of 95.4%. The estimated prevalence of depression among inpatients from the Department of Oncology was 32.8% (171/521). Risk factors for depression in patients in the Department of Oncology included female gender [OR=1.550, 95%CI (1.034, 2.325), P=0.034] illiterate and primary school education [OR=2.534, 95%CI (1.329, 4.832), P=0.005] and annual household income lower than 10 000 RMB [OR=1.850, 95%CI (1.056, 3.243), P=0.032]. A total of 135 patients had suicidal risks, among whom 90 (52.6%) had depression, and Spearman correlation analysis showed that suicidal risk was moderately and positively correlated with PHQ-9 scores (r=0.558, P<0.001). ConclusionsThe estimated total prevalence of depression is high in hospitalized patients in the Department of Oncology, especially in female, low educational level and low family income patients. We must pay more attention to the mental health of cancer patients, evaluate depression and suicidal tendency carefully and provide psychological service timely.