PEUR DE LA RÉCIDIVE DU CANCER EN CONTEXTE PANDÉMIQUE CHEZ LES FEMMES ATTEINTES D'UN CANCER DU SEIN.

Cancer patients have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to being at higher risk of complications from COVID-19, many cancer patients experienced delays in cancer tests and treatments due to sanitary measures. These changes in their cancer care trajectory are likely to have influenced their level of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR). The primary objective of this cross-sectional study, conducted among 245 women diagnosed with breast cancer within the past five years (2016-2021), is to assess the mean level of FCR and to estimate the proportion of patients with clinical levels of FCR during the second wave of COVID-19. For comparative purposes, the study also aims to examine the mean level of anxiety and depression and then estimate the proportion of breast cancer patients with clinical levels of these two disturbances. Participants completed online questionnaires between November 2020 and March 2021. Results revealed that a large proportion of patients showed clinical levels of FCR (76.4%), while the proportions of patients reporting clinical levels of anxiety and depression were 45.6% and 52.7%, respectively. Prepandemic FCR prevalence varying between 53.1% and 60.1%, results from this study highlight that FCR is a major issue in a pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]