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Psychological morbidity in women at increased risk of developing breast cancer: A controlled study
Author(s) -
Butow Phyllis,
Meiser Bettina,
Price Melanie,
Bennett Barbara,
Tucker Kathy,
Davenport Tracey,
Hickie Ian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.835
Subject(s) - breast cancer , anxiety , depression (economics) , psychological distress , family history , medicine , distress , clinical psychology , psychiatry , cancer , economics , macroeconomics
There has been an ongoing debate in the literature on the extent to which women with a family history of breast cancer are at risk of psychological morbidity. This study compares psychological morbidity in 557 women participating in a large Australian registry of high‐risk breast cancer families (kConFab) with 2 age and education matched samples, 1494 general practitioner attendees and 158 members of a twin registry. Participants completed the Somatic and Psychological Health Report (SPHERE). There were no significant differences between the three groups on psychological distress ( F 2, 670 =1.77, p =0.17). Unsurprisingly, GP attendees reported more symptoms of somatic distress than the kConFab group ( t 411 =2.89, p =0.004); there were no differences between the twins and the kConFab group on somatic distress ( t 174 =0.40, p =0.687). Clinically significant anxiety/depression, a combination of psychological and somatic distress, therefore was significantly higher in GP attendees (28%) than the kConFab and twin samples (both 20%). These results refute the hypothesis that women with a family history of breast cancer are at greater psychological risk. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.