Anxiety and depression in breast cancer patients before and after participation in a cancer support group

A prospective study was conducted to assess the long-term impact of attendi ng a support group on the prevalence of psychological morbidity in patients with breast cancer before and after 1-year participation in the Iranian br east cancer support group. Psychological morbidity was measured using the h ospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). In addition, qualitative data were collected to throw some lights on the topic. All current members of th e three Iranian breast cancer support groups (n = 56) were interviewed. The mean age of patients was 45.4 (S.D. = 9.2) years, most were married (n = 4 6, 82%), and 54% of patients (n = 30) were diagnosed as having breast cance r from 1 to 5 years ago. While at baseline 16 patients (29%) scored high on the anxiety sub-scale and eight patients (14%) scored high on the depressi on sub-scale, at follow-up only two patients (2%) were likely experiencing severe anxiety symptoms and there were no patients with probable severely d epressed mood. Comparing anxiety and depression at baseline and follow-up, there was a statistically significant difference between baseline and follo w-up anxiety (P = 0.03) and depression (P = 0.008) scores. Analysis of the qualitative data indicated that the group involvement was the most importan t factor that contributed to the patients' improved psychological wellbeing . The findings of this prospective study suggest that participation in canc er support groups could have a long-term effect in reducing anxiety and dep ression in breast cancer survivors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.