Evaluation of symptoms of anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer after breast amputation or conservation treated with adjuvant chemotherapy

Objective. Evaluation of the presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in women treated for breast cancer who underwent surgical procedure using one of two alternative methods, either radical mastectomy or breast conserving treatment (BCT). Methods. A questionnaire survey involved 85 patients treated in a conservative way and 94 patients after breast amputation. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and depression degree evaluation questionnaire were used in the study. The patients' responses were statistically analyzed. Results. Based on the HADS questionnaire, the total anxiety level in the group of women treated with BCT was 6.96 points, while in the group of patients who had undergone mastectomy the value was 7.8 points. The observed results were statistically significant. In the case of depression, the following values were found: patients after amputation had 8.04 scale value points, and those after BCT had 6.8 scale value points. The observed differences were statistically significant. Negative correlation was found between the level of anxiety and depression. The total level of depression evaluated using the Beck scale was 16.3 points in the BCT group, which means that they suffered from mild depression, while in the mastectomy group the level was 19.6 points, which corresponds to moderate depression. Conclusions. The level of anxiety and depression among women with breast cancer was influenced by the type of the applied surgical procedure and adjuvant chemotherapy. Demographic variables did not influence the level of anxiety and depression.