Differences in depression, anxiety, and quality of life between women with and without breast pain prior to breast cancer surgery

Abstract

Purpose of the research: Little is known about the relationships between pain, anxiety, and depression in women prior to breast cancer surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate for differences in anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QOL) in women who did and did not report the occurrence of breast pain prior to breast cancer surgery. We hypothesized that women with pain would report higher levels of anxiety and depression as well as poorer QOL than women without pain.

Methods and sample: A total of 390 women completed self-report measures of pain, anxiety depression, and QOL prior to surgery.

Key results: Women with preoperative breast pain (28%) were significantly younger, had a lower functional status score, were more likely to be Non-white and to have gone through menopause. Over 37% of the sample reported clinically meaningful levels of depressive symptoms. Almost 70% of the sample reported clinically meaningful levels of anxiety. Patients with preoperative breast pain reported significantly higher depression scores and significantly lower physical well-being scores. No between group differences were found for patients' ratings of state and trait anxiety or total QOL scores.

Conclusions: Our a priori hypotheses were only partially supported. Findings from this study suggest that, regardless of pain status, anxiety and depression are common problems in women prior to breast cancer surgery.