Choice of surgery for early breast cancer: Pre- and postoperative levels of clinical anxiety and depression in patients and their husbands

Abstract

Abstract Two groups of patients with early breast cancer were studied prospectively to assess whether being offered a choice of surgery (simple mastectomy or wide excision plus radiotherapy) influenced levels of anxiety and depression pre- and postoperatively. A significantly higher percentage of the patients not offered a choice of surgery experienced high levels of anxiety and depression pre-operatively and up to 2 months postoperatively compared with patients offered a choice; the results were also similar for the husbands of these patients. At 4 months, differences between the two groups were not statistically significant, although the trend remained the same with more patients not offered a choice of treatment showing high levels of anxiety and depression. Patients offered a choice of surgery had similar pre- and postoperative levels of anxiety and depression to patients with benign breast disease and patients undergoing surgery for non-cancerous conditions.