Factors associated with symptom distress in women with breast cancer prior to initiation of chemotherapy.
Susan R Mazanec, Sumin Park, Mary C Connolly and 1 others
PMID 34815009WHAT IT FOUND
Before starting chemotherapy, many women with breast cancer reported worry, fatigue and insomnia.
Women who reported greater financial hardship also reported more symptom distress. Ask about distress and money worries before treatment.
Key findings
01Before starting chemotherapy, participants reported an average of five symptoms. The most common were outlook of worry or fear (88.2%), fatigue (77.3%), insomnia (74.8%) and pain (52.9%).
02Higher symptom distress was linked to greater perceived economic hardship (r = .50), and economic hardship predicted higher symptom distress after controlling for age and race (β = .36).
03Black women reported higher mean symptom distress than White women (23.50 versus 20.67 on a 13 to 65 scale, p = .035), but race did not predict symptom distress in the regression model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis used only baseline, pretreatment data, so it does not describe symptoms after chemotherapy begins. The design was cross-sectional and correlational, so it cannot show that financial hardship caused symptom distress. The sample was a convenience sample, and the supplied text does not report the final number of participants analysed. The Symptom Distress Scale was designed in 1978 and includes only one psychological symptom, so it may not capture the full symptom experience.
Declared interests
The article metadata lists NIH extramural research support. The supplied text does not include an author conflict of interest statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that financial hardship causes symptom distress or that asking about money will reduce distress. The study measured associations at one pretreatment time point, and the authors state that causality cannot be inferred.