LETTER TO THE EDITOR Female gender is not a proven risk factor for depression in glioma

We read Litofsky and Resnick’s timely and useful review of depression in brain tumour patients with interest [1]. The authors identified screening for depression as an issue requiring future study. Because screening is often targeted at high-risk groups, it is important to study the risk factors for depression in brain tumour patients. The authors state that female gender is a risk factor for depression in glioma. It is true that some groups have found women with brain tumours to be more likely than men to become depressed [2, 3]. However other researchers have not, including one of the authors of the review [4–6]. We sent a questionnaire to the GP of each glioma patient on our hospital database (Edinburgh, UK), asking whether their patient had suffered depression both before and since the diagnosis of glioma. The diagnosis of depression wa