Trends in Emotional Functioning and Psychosocial Wellbeing in Breast Cancer Survivors

Purpose A breast cancer diagnosis can threaten every aspect of a woman’s wellbeing, including her mental health. With the growing number of breast cancer survivors, longitudinal studies addressing mental health in this population are of increasing importance now more than ever. Therefore, the current study investigated trends in emotional functioning and psychosocial wellbeing of breast cancer survivors, and the demographic and treatment characteristics that may influence these trends. Methods Prospectively collected data of women treated for breast cancer at the Erasmus MC was analyzed in this study. Emotional functioning was measured using the EORTC-QLQ-C30, while psychosocial wellbeing was measured using the BREAST-Q. Type of surgery, age, family status and employment status of study participants were retrieved from patient files. Multilevel analysis was performed to identify trends in emotional functioning and psychosocial wellbeing and to determine the relationship between aforementioned characteristics and these trends. Results 334 cancer survivors were analyzed. Psychosocial wellbeing declined, but emotional functioning showed a steady improvement over time. Type of surgery was associated with changes in emotional functioning and family status with changes in psychosocial wellbeing: women who underwent breast reconstruction showed a steeper increase in their emotional functioning and women with no partner or children showed a greater decline in psychosocial wellbeing between baseline and 12 months after surgery. Conclusion These findings can be utilized by healthcare teams to identify breast cancer patients at risk for emotional problems and to provide adequate psychological support to those women who need help dealing with their emotions and self-concept in order to optimize clinical treatment.