Abstract

BERROSPI-REYNA, Silvia; HERENCIA-SOUZA, Mónica  and  SOTO, Alonso. Prevalence and associated factors of depressive symptoms in women with breast cancer in a public hospital in Lima, Peru. Acta méd. Peru [online]. 2017, vol.34, n.2, pp.95-100. ISSN 1728-5917.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and the associated factors with depressive symptoms in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed in a hospital in Lima, Peru. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire scale (PHQ-9) for assessing the presence of depressive symptoms. Results: We recruited 385 patients, and we found a 21.29% prevalence of depressive symptoms. The mean age of patients was 59.56 years, with no statistically significant differences between age groups with or without depressive symptoms. Bivariate analyses showed statistically significant associations between depressive symptoms and educational level, dyspnea, insomnia, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, general symptoms, radiotherapy use and monthly income. However, multivariate analyses showed there was a statistically significant association only between depressive and gastrointestinal symptoms (odds ratio: 2.94; 95% confidence interval: 1.48-5.83, p<0.01). Conclusions: Women with breast cancer have a high frequency of depressive symptoms, and these are associated to the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms. We recommend to systematically screen for depressive symptoms in these patients and to offer them multidisciplinary management for their condition

Keywords : Breast cancer; Depression; Depressive disorder.

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