Psychological and social adjustment to mastectomy.A two-year follow-up study

Abstract

A consecutive series of 160 women admitted to hospital for breast tumor biopsy was assessed prior to, and at 3, 12, and 24 months following operation for marital, sexual, interpersonal and work adjustment, depression, and personality characteristics by means of rating scales based on structures interviews and standard tests. By 2 years there wery no significant differences in social adjustment between mastectomy patients and benign breast disease controls; 70% of cancer patients were no longer stressed by mastectomy at 1 year. Factors predicting poor adjustment to mastectomy were high preoperative scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Neuroticism Scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory; deterioration in sexual adjustment was associated with biological or chronological perimenopausal status. Significantly more cancer than benign disease patients were dissatisfied with the information they received about operation and diagnosis. Implications of these findings for the care of the mastectomy patient are discussed.

Depression, Anxiety and Sexual Satisfaction in Breast Cancer Patients and their Partners-Izmir Oncology Group Study

“…A study conducted by Morris et al indicated that two main issues affect breast cancer patients' sexuality after surgical treatment: personality and psychological factors. They found that clinical factors did not predict quality of sexual life, sexual functioning or sexual enjoyment (Morris et al, 1977). Depression and anxiety in women are often associated with an increase in female sexual dysfunction and an increase in marital discord.…”

Promoting adjustment after treatment for cancer

“…On general measures of psychological adjustment and quality of life, it is often found that cancer patients are indistinguishable from the general population by 1 or 2 years after diagnosis, given that treatment is complete and the cancer controlled. [3][4][5][6][7] Within this context of overall positive adjustment, however, two points deserve mention. First, there is substantial variability in adjustment.…”

Changes in Body Image in Women with Early Stage Breast Cancer

“…(Millar et al, 2005) In other studies, this trait also in part explained the variance in depressive symptoms after breast cancer surgery (Den Oudsten et al, 2009a, Golden-Kreutz andAndersen, 2004), as well as of poor adjustment to mastectomy. (Morris et al, 1977) After discussing the results of the study, certain limitations and strengths should be acknowledged. Strength of the underlying study is the baseline measurement, before the diagnosis is known.…”