(Korean Source)

Purpose: Patients with breast cancer are at risk for developing psychological distress and psychiatric disorders such as depression. The aim of this study was to assess the depressive symptom related factors in women with breast cancer. Methods: A total of 211 patients with breast cancer who had undergone an operation within 5 years participated in this survey with consent. Depressive symptoms in patients were measured using the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire in the outpatient clinic and sociodemographic, clinicopathologic factors of the patients were analyzed with a BDI score. The patients were divided into group A (BDI<16, n=146) and group B (BDI≥16, n=65). Results: The mean age of the patients was 49.2 years and the mean follow-up period was 22 months. In the univariate analyses, postmenopausal status (p=0.014), tumor size (p=0.023) and presence of progesterone receptor (p=0.012) were significantly associated with depressive symptom. In multivariate analysis, only postmenopause (p=0.021) and tumor size (p= 0.018) were related with depressive symptom. Conclusion: Depressive symptom is common in patients with breast cancer and a screening test for depression is needed in breast cancer patient who experienced menopause or has bigger tumor size.