Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Before and After Breast-Cancer Diagnosis Among Young Women in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

Objective: The aim of the study was to explore depressive, anxiety, and mental-health related somatic symptoms among young breast-cancer survivors by considering symptoms before and after cancer onset.

Materials And Methods: The study sample included females from the prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Symptoms were assessed with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 at the age of 31 and 46 years. We studied both subscales of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms and single symptoms in secondary analyses.

Results: Thirty-one cases and 3.077 controls were included. Females diagnosed with breast cancer 3-8 years before the 46-year follow-up had increased depressive ( = 0.005) and somatic symptoms ( = 0.028) at the 46-year follow-up compared with the 31-year follow-up. This was not observed among those diagnosed <3 or >8 years before or among controls. Females diagnosed with breast cancer reported more lack of strength or energy compared with controls at the 46-year follow-up ( = 0.047). Among females who did not report feeling that the future is hopeless at the 31-year follow-up, significantly more females diagnosed with breast cancer reported this feeling at the 46-year follow-up compared with controls ( = 0.006).

Conclusion: Depressive and somatic symptoms increased significantly among young females at 3-8 years after breast-cancer diagnosis compared with the time before the cancer diagnosis. Psychosocial measures of support for breast-cancer survivors should be provided over the long-term.