Anxiety, depression and quality of life among Chinese breast cancer patients during adjuvant therapy.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to examine anxiety and depression and their effects on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. Data were collected from a self-report survey derived from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)-Cantonese/Chinese version, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for Breast Cancer (FACT-B)-Chinese version, and from demographic and clinical characteristics. Chi-square tests and the General Linear Model (GLM) were used for secondary data analysis.

SAMPLE: The study group consisted of 218 women (> or = 18 years old) who were midway through chemotherapy or radiotherapy for stage I-III breast cancer. All subjects were recruited from the outpatient sections of the Departments of Clinical Oncology or Breast Centers of the four Hong Kong public hospitals.

RESULTS: The percentage of participants with anxiety (chi2=6.56, p=0.01) or depression (chi2=7.26, p=0.007) was higher in the chemotherapy group. More participants in the chemotherapy group had both anxiety and depression than those in the radiotherapy group, though no statistically significant difference was reported. Anxiety and depression had detrimental effects on the overall and other domains of QOL of these women undergoing adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.

CONCLUSION: This study should increase nurses' awareness of the importance of integrating psychological symptom assessment into nursing assessment procedures, and enhance their clinical sensitivity in identifying high-risk groups of patients undergoing specific cancer treatments.