Factors Related to Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer

Macarena C. Cáceres, Marta Nadal-Delgado, Casimiro López-Jurado, Demetrio Pérez-Civantos, Jorge Guerrero-Martín and Noelia Durán-Gómez
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Macarena C. Cáceres: Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Marta Nadal-Delgado: Hospital Universitario de Badajoz, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Casimiro López-Jurado: Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Demetrio Pérez-Civantos: Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Extremadura Hospital Universitario de Badajoz, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Jorge Guerrero-Martín: Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Noelia Durán-Gómez: Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Breast cancer (BC) is a major public health problem internationally. Although illness survival rates have improved, patients usually suffer multiple symptoms, both physical and psychological, which can affect their quality of life (QoL). The main aim of this study was to evaluate depressive symptoms, anxiety and the QoL of people with BC. An observational, cross-sectional study was carried out at Badajoz University Hospital (Spain). A total of 200 women with BC were included. EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires were used to assess QoL. Patients were screened for depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and for state anxiety and trait anxiety using the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Thirty-eight percent of the patients in the sample had moderate to severe anxiety, which was related to the time of diagnosis, advanced stage of illness and surgical treatment. We found that 28% of patients had depressive symptoms, related mainly with time of diagnosis, adjuvant therapy and number of cycles of chemotherapy (CT). Patients with the longest time since diagnosis, in stage III, and in treatment with CT, especially those with the greatest number of cycles, had the worst scores in QoL. We found a positive association between depressive symptoms and anxiety with QoL in patients with BC.

Keywords: breast neoplasm; quality of life; depressive symptoms; anxiety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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