Anxiety in disease-free breast cancer patients might be alleviated by provision of psychological support, not of information

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates the prevalence of clinical anxiety, the possible impact of patients' anxiety on quality of life and the association between their anxiety levels and patients' perceived needs. Methods: Randomly selected disease-free patients with breast cancer who survived >2 years were invited to participate in the study. The participants were asked to complete the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C 30 and the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey questionnaire, which covers five domains of need (health system and information, psychological, physical, care and support and sexuality needs). Results: Complete datawere available for 146 of the patients, and 14%of themsuffered fromclinical anxiety. Anxiety score had a statistically significant correlation with all domains of quality-of-life measures. The only perceived need that was significantly associated with anxiety was the psychological domain. Conclusions: Not negligible patients may suffer from clinical anxiety >2 years after their initial cancer diagnoses. Anxiety can impact on patients' quality of life, and unmet psychological needs are expected to increase anxiety levels. Management of anxiety could be one of the key components to improving the quality of life for breast cancer survivors and that reducing their unmet psychological needs may contribute to alleviating anxiety.