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Emotional distress and psychosocial needs in patients with breast cancer in British Columbia: younger versus older adults

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

This study evaluates the prevalence of emotional distress and psychosocial needs in young adult (YA, age 18–39) patients at the time of their breast cancer diagnosis compared to older patients.

Methods

Through a province-wide program, BC Cancer patients complete the PsychoSocial Scan for CANcer—Revised (PSSCAN-R) questionnaire, which screens for the presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression and assesses psychosocial needs using the Canadian Problem Checklist (CPC). The study population comprised all breast cancer patients who completed the questionnaire within 6 months of their cancer diagnosis between 2011 and 2016. Clinical information was retrospectively collected from electronic health records. Univariate and multivariate analyses using the X2, Fisher’s exact test, and logistical regression were used to compare patient age groups.

Results

The cohort included 10,734 breast cancer patients: median age 62, 4% YA, 99% female, and 96% presented with non-metastatic disease. After adjusting for clinical and demographic variables, YA patients were more likely to report depression (33.6% vs. 25.5%, OR 1.47, p = 0.001) and anxiety symptoms (58.6% vs. 35.7%, OR 2.49, p < 0.001) than older patients. Psychosocial needs regarding work/school (OR 3.79, p < 0.001), intimacy/sexuality (OR 2.82, p < 0.001), and finances (OR 2.78, p < 0.001) were more common among YA than older adults.

Conclusions

After a breast cancer diagnosis, YAs have higher levels of emotional distress compared to older patients. Differences in specific psychosocial needs likely reflect differences in life stage between these age groups. The data suggest that YAs warrant specific attention with respect to early psychosocial assessment and tailored intervention.

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Funding

We would like to thank the BC Cancer Foundation for their generous support of the Outcomes and Surveillance Integrated System (OaSIS).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Hiten Naik, Janessa Laskin, Jonn Wu, Alan Bates & Cheryl Ho

  2. Department of Medical Oncology, BC Cancer, 600 10th Avenue West, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4E6, Canada

    Bonnie Leung, Janessa Laskin & Cheryl Ho

  3. Department of Medical Oncology, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, Canada

    Amirrtha Srikanthan

  4. Department of Radiation Oncology, BC Cancer, Vancouver, Canada

    Jonn Wu

  5. Department of Psychosocial Oncology, BC Cancer, Vancouver, Canada

    Melanie McDonald & Alan Bates

Authors
  1. Hiten Naik
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  2. Bonnie Leung
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  4. Melanie McDonald
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  7. Alan Bates
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  8. Cheryl Ho
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Contributions

Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by HN, BL, and CH. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HN and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cheryl Ho.

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Conflicts of interest

AB reports a research grant from Pfizer. JL reports grants from Roche and AstraZeneca, and honoraria from Roche, AstraZeneca, and Takeda. JW has served on an advisory board for Eisai. CH has received grants from Eisai and Boehringer Ingelheim, and honoraria from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, BMS, Roche, Lilly, Eisai, Merck and Bayer. Authors HN, BL, and MM have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with institutional standards and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its subsequent amendments or comparable standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Naik, H., Leung, B., Laskin, J. et al. Emotional distress and psychosocial needs in patients with breast cancer in British Columbia: younger versus older adults. Breast Cancer Res Treat 179, 471–477 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-019-05468-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-019-05468-6

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