Psychiatric comorbidities and breast cancer: A study from Jammu region of UT of J&K, India

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females of all age groups. The diagnosis of cancer itself has a menacing impact on the psychosocial health of an individual leading to various psychiatric comorbidities. This can impact the overall prognosis of cancer patients. Objectives: To study the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities among female breast cancer patients and to assess its association with sociodemographic and clinical factors among these. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted for a period of 1 year in the Regional Cancer Centre. All females in the age group of 18 years and above, who were confirmed to have breast cancer were included in the study. A self-designed proforma was administered to elicit information about sociodemographic and clinical details of the study subjects. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to assess the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities like depression, anxiety, and stress among these subjects. Data thus obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Software. Results: A total of 205 subjects were included in the study. The mean age was reported as 49.25 +/- 11.44 years, most of these were married homemakers residing in nuclear families in rural areas. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was found to be 60%, 73.17%, and 83.41%, and these were significantly associated (P < 0.05) with residence, number of living children, visits per month to hospitals, time since diagnosis, and type of treatment received. Conclusion: There is a high risk of psychiatric comorbidities among breast cancer female patients and an urgent need for effective strategies to prevent these.