Psychological distress two years after diagnosis of breast cancer: frequency and prediction

The present prospective study aimed at (1) investigating the frequency of h igh levels of psychological distress in women with early-stage breast cance r almost two years after diagnosis and (2) identifying characteristics asso ciated with long-term distress. One hundred and seventy women participated on two occasions. Two months after surgery, patients completed questionnair es measuring psychosocial variables (e.g., stressful life-events, health co mplaints, sleep problems, social support, subjective distress, personality factors), demographic and biomedical variables (e.g., TNM status, type of s urgery) At the second measurement, subjective distress was assessed for a s econd time by means of the Impact of Events Scale (IES). Almost two years a fter diagnosis, 16% of the women reported a high level of psychological dis tress as measured by the Intrusion scale (IES). Best predictors of a high l evel of distress were: intrusive thoughts about the disease, trait-anxiety, health complaints and problems with sleeping. No significant association w as found between previous life-events, social support or biomedical variabl es and levels of distress, (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All right s reserved.