PURPOSE: Objectives of the current study were to evaluate the frequency of psychological distress in post-surgical women with breast cancer, and to identify sociodemographic and biomedical variables assocaited with distress. METHODS: Two hundred and sixty-six post-surgical women with breast cancer attending an ambulatory outpatient clinic completed a self-report instrument, the Brief Symptom Inventory. Demographic, pathological and histological data on the breast tumor were obtained from a hospital cancer registry. RESULTS: More than a third (31%) were distressed. For individual psychological data, 26% reported obsessive-compulsive thoughts, 23% were anxious, 21% indicated somatic symptoms, and 18% reported psychotic thoughts. Logistic regression analysis revealed non-whites were more likely to report higher interpersonal sensitivity (OR=2.80, 95%CI=1.08, 4.80), higher psychoticism (OR=1.98, 95%CI=0.94, 4.08), and higher paranoid ideation (OR=2.59, 95%CI=0.11, 5.74) than white counterparts, but were less likely to report hostility (OR=0.35, 95%CI=0.11, 1.15). By contrast, those older (>50 years) were less likely to be depressed (OR=0.45, 95%CI=0.19, 1.06) than younger women. Compared to early stage (Stage IIB), those with late stage (Stage IV) breast cancer were more likely to be depressed (OR=2.40, 95%CI=0.88, 6.02), paranoid (OR=2.10, 95%CI=0.96, 4.67), and psychotic (OR=3.30, 95%CI=1.41, 7.88). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that oncologists and health care workers should be aware that psychological distress is ubiquitious in a subset of breast cancer patients in the period following surgery. Clarification of the nature of this group's psycholgoical well-being warrants further research and clincal attention.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Breast Cancer, Psychosocial Issues of Cancer
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.