Psychological Symptom Cluster Severity Profiles Are Associated With Higher Levels of Stress and Worse Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer.
Carolyn S Harris, Yvette P Conley, Margaret Q Rosenzweig and 3 others
PMID 39625825WHAT IT FOUND
Postmenopausal women after breast cancer surgery grouped by anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep symptoms showed more posttraumatic stress and poorer quality of life as symptom severity rose.
All groups reported clinically relevant sleep disturbance.
Key findings
01Most women were in the lower-severity group (114 women, 71.7%), and only 7 women were in the higher-severity group.
02Posttraumatic stress scores increased across the three symptom-severity groups, from lower to moderate to higher severity.
03Quality of life scores for general health, vitality, emotional role, mental health, and mental summary were lower as symptom severity increased.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional baseline analysis, so it cannot show whether stress, symptoms, or quality of life caused the others. The higher-severity group had only 7 women, so findings for that group are unstable. The sample was mostly White and came from two breast cancer programs in Western Pennsylvania, so it may not represent all postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer. The parent exercise trial excluded some women, such as those hospitalized for a psychiatric illness in the past two years, which may have removed people at higher risk for severe symptoms. Posttraumatic stress questions did not ask which event caused the symptoms, so the stress reported may not have been about cancer.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include a conflict-of-interest declaration. The publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that posttraumatic stress causes a severe symptom cluster or that treating stress will improve quality of life. The study measured everything at one baseline time point, and the highest-severity group had only 7 women.