Anxiety and depression in Iranian breast cancer patients before and after diagnosis

A prospective study was conducted to measure anxiety and depression in Iran ian breast cancer patients before and after diagnosis using the Hospital An xiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The HADS was administered at two points in time: before diagnosis and 3 months after. In all, 168 breast cancer pat ients were interviewed. While 48% of patients had severe symptoms of anxiet y at both baseline and follow-up, more than 60% of patients had no symptoms of depressive illness at pre-and post-diagnosis assessments. Comparing anx iety and depression before diagnosis and after 3 months, there were no sign ificant differences between patients' scores on anxiety (P = 0.42) and depr ession (P = 0.98) subscales. The results showed that patients with advanced disease and a lower performance status were more anxious and experienced m ore depression. The study findings suggest that severe symptoms of anxiety are the most frequent symptoms in Iranian breast cancer patients. It seems that during the process of diagnosis and 3 months after psychological morbi dity persists in patients who suffer from breast cancer.