Anxiety and Depression Among Breast Cancer Patients in A Tertiary Hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer globally and the most frequent cancer among women. It is associated with significant psychological morbidity including anxiety and depression. The extent of this burden has however not been documented in the Ghanaian setting. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of anxiety and depression amongst patients with breast cancer at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).
Design and Subjects: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 120 breast cancer patients using a structured questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic characteristics of patients. The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) was used to assess for
depression and anxiety in these patients. 
Results: The overall prevalence of depression was 84.2%, while that for anxiety was 92.5%. Forty-four percent of the study participants had both anxiety and depression. There was no significant difference in depression (p=0.796) and anxiety (p=0.999) prevalence
between post-menopausal (82.9% and 92.1% respectively) and pre-menopausal (86.4% and 93.2% respectively) patients. A significant difference in prevalence of depression alone (p=0.033) and depression in combination with anxiety (0.025) was found between those living with their partners and those living without their partners. Average monthly income was found to be significantly associated with
anxiety alone (p=0.014) as well as anxiety and depression combination (p=0.032) but not with depression alone (p=0.101).
Conclusion: The prevalence of anxiety and depression are quite high among breast cancer patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Anxiety was significantly associated with the average monthly income while depression was associated with the marital status of
patients. The high prevalence of both anxiety and depression among breast cancer patients makes it imperative for psychotherapy to be incorporated as an integral part of the management of breast cancer patients for the entire duration of the illness but more
especially during the period immediately following diagnosis