The Effect of the Psycho-Oncology Program on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Quasi-experimental Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital, South India

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer treatment can affect women both physically and psychologically. Women with breast cancer undergo various painful and debilitating therapies as well as emotional trauma. Health-care providers are facing the challenge of helping breast cancer survivors cope with their physical and psychological problems. In addition, treatment modalities can bring multiple changes. Materials and Methods: Purposive sampling was used to choose 60 breast cancer survivors, with 30 members of the intervention group and 30 members of the control group. While participants in the intervention group received routine therapy along with additional psycho-oncology programs, individuals in the control group received standard care according to hospital guidelines. All participants’ baseline and postintervention levels of stress, anxiety, and depression were assessed using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS)-21. For every DASS-21 indicator, the differences between the intervention and control groups were examined using two-sided t-tests. Results: Significant decreases in means were found for DASS-21 indicators from baseline mean scores for depression (15.9 ° 1.7), anxiety (13.3 ° 1.2), Stress (16.4 ° 1.4) to mean scores after the Psycho-oncology program, for depression (10.7 ° 2.0), anxiety (7.4 ° 1.1), stress (10.1 ° 1.1) with p < .001. After the intervention, participants from the intervention group were found to heal from a severely depressed/anxious/stressed state to moderately depressed/anxious and stressed than in the control group. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that depression, anxiety, and stress, which are quite treatable, are common psychiatric morbidities faced by breast cancer patients, which can be treated through psychological intervention (the Psycho-Oncology Program) along with physical measures.