Pre- and Postoperative Stress Scores in Patients with Breast Cancer

This study investigated the distress scores in breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy or breast conservation surgery before and after the procedure to understand the initial stress levels and changes in stress scores after the surgical procedure. In this prospective study, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Distress Thermometer (DT) and Problem Checklist scale were applied to 205 patients diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer between January 2020 and June 2021, when the first cancer was diagnosed and at the first postoperative outpatient control. While McNemar’s test is used to compare categorical variables, independent groups, Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate the comparison of two dependent groups. Spearman’s correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationships of continuous variables. The initial median DT score of the patients was 6, while after the surgical procedure, median DT score was found to be 4. If the postoperative DT is 4 and above, in the logistic regression model, married ( p = 0.014, OR : 4.89, 95% CI for OR : 1.38–17.27), employees ( p = 0.008, OR : 5.14, 95% CI for OR : 1.52–17.41), those who received neoadjuvant therapy ( p = 0.139, OR : 6.76, 95% CI for OR : 0.53–85.34), and patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy ( p < 0.001, OR : 62.14, 95% CI for OR : 22.21–173.82), the risk of DT > 4 increases. The DT is an effective tool used to assess the distress of breast cancer patients. In this study, when pre- and postoperative distress was evaluated, it was seen that the postoperative distress situation decreased.