Psychological distress in women with breast and gynecological cancer treated with radical surgery

Objectives The objective of this study is to compare psychological distress (body image disturbance, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety) in women with breast or gynecological cancer treated by radical surgery. Additionally, another objective is to analyze the association between psychological distress and sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, and social support to produce a prediction model for the outcome measures. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out with 100 women who had undergone radical surgery for breast or gynecological cancer. Both groups were divided into the following: younger than 50 years old and 50 years old or older. Body Image Scale, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory were used. Results Age had a significant main effect on psychological distress but the type of cancer did not. Younger women showed significantly greater distress than older women (p-values < 0.001). A significant interaction between age and type of cancer was found, indicating that older women with breast cancer had worse body image and more depression than those with gynecological cancer (p-values < 0.001); no significant differences were found between younger groups. The prediction model for increased body image disturbance and depression included the joint effect of the following variables: being younger, inactive occupational status, and post-adjuvant therapy side effects. For lower self-esteem, the variables were: being younger, post-adjuvant therapy side effects, and dissatisfaction with social support. And for higher anxiety, the sole variable included was post-adjuvant therapy side effects. Conclusions Both mastectomy and hysterectomy/oophorectomy cause similar psychological distress in younger women, but mastectomy causes greater distress in older women than hysterectomy/oophorectomy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.