Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: October | Volume: 6 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 373-377
A Single Institutional Study of Depression among Patients of Breast Cancer
Saptarshi Banerjee
Department of Radiotherapy, NRS Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females worldwide, as well as among Indian women. Diagnosis of breast cancer causes a psychological trauma in many patients. It is terrifying disease because of its high mortality, adverse effect on self image and sexual relationship. Almost one-third to half of the patients of breast cancer suffer from psychological distress. Different studies have been done to delineate the trend and degree of depression in breast cancer patients. In this study, the prevalence and degree of depression among breast cancer patients, attending department of radiotherapy of a tertiary hospital of West Bengal, India, during a period of six months, were studied, before, during and after treatment. A large portion of breast cancer patients were detected to be suffering from moderate and severe depression. For the patients with non metastatic breast cancer, the depression was greater during treatment than that was before or after treatment, and the differences were statistically significant. No significant difference was present in depression between pre and post treatment. For patients with metastatic disease, there was no significant difference in depression between before and during treatment.
Key words: Breast Cancer, Depression, Prevalence
[PDF Full Text]