Abstract
Depression, sleep disturbance, and vasomotor symptoms are common in breast cancer survivors (BCS), especially in younger women diagnosed before menopause. Risk factors and mechanisms for depression in this population are relatively unexplored. In 163 young BCS, vasomotor symptoms were significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms (β = 0.26, p = 0.001) and 64 % of the total effect was mediated through sleep disturbance (beta for specific indirect effect = 1.296, 95 % CI 0.591–2.212). Treatments reducing vasomotor symptoms might alleviate sleep disturbance and depression in this population.
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Acknowledgments
This project was supported by funding from the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation to Drs. Annette Stanton and Patricia Ganz. Additional funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health (T32MHI5750) was provided to Dr. Eynav Accortt. We thank the participants of this study for contributing to this research and increasing our knowledge about the experiences of younger women with breast cancer. We also want to acknowledge the support of the research team members, including Laura Petersen, Barbara Kahn-Mills, Sasha Sobolevsky, Liana Abascal, and Patricia Voege.
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Accortt, E.E., Bower, J.E., Stanton, A.L. et al. Depression and vasomotor symptoms in young breast cancer survivors: the mediating role of sleep disturbance. Arch Womens Ment Health 18, 565–568 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0504-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0504-5