Ss. Ubhi et al., ANXIETY IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC BREAST DISEASE - EFFECTS OF IMMEDIATE VERSUS DELAYED COMMUNICATION OF RESULTS, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 78(5), 1996, pp. 466-469
Immediate reporting of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimens
has been introduced into many breast clinics; in others, women return
to a later clinic to receive the result. This delay in communication o
f results may lead to elevated anxiety. This study compared anxiety le
vels in two groups having FNAB. One group received results at the init
ial clinic visit (n=51), the other having delayed communication (n=51)
. Anxiety was measured using the six-item short form of the Spielberge
r State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-SSF) and was administered before
and after each consultation. Initial anxiety was high in both groups.
Women with malignant results had higher post-communication anxiety co
mpared with women with benign results. However, within the group with
benign results (the vast majority), immediate communication was associ
ated with a significantly greater fall in STAI-SSF scores from before
to after the first consultation (U = 587.0; P < 0.02). There was no di
fference between the immediate and delayed communication among women w
ith a malignant diagnosis (U = 26.0; P = 0.91). These results provide
preliminary support for the more widespread introduction of a cytologi
st into breast clinics to allow immediate communication of results.