%0 Journal Article
%T Cancer-Specific Stress and Mood Disturbance: Implications for Symptom Perception, Quality of Life, and Immune Response in Women Shortly after Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
%A Duck-Hee Kang
%A Na-Jin Park
%A Traci McArdle
%J ISRN Nursing
%D 2012
%R 10.5402/2012/608039
%X Purpose. To determine the levels of cancer-specific stress and mood disturbance in women shortly after diagnosis of breast cancer and to assess their associations with symptom perception, quality of life, and immune response. Design. Descriptive and correlational. Sample and Setting. One hundred women with newly diagnosed breast cancer were recruited from interdisciplinary breast clinics. Methods. Baseline data were collected using standardized questionnaires and established bioassay prior to the initiation of cancer adjuvant therapy. Blood samples were collected about the same time of day. Results. High cancer-specific stress was significantly correlated with high mood disturbance, which, in turn, was correlated with high symptom perception, poor quality of life, and an immune profile indicating high neutrophils and low lymphocytes. Conclusions. High cancer-specific stress and related mood disturbance show extensive negative relationships with multiple behavioral, clinical, and biological factors. Implications for Nursing. Routine screening for cancer-related stress and mood disturbance should be incorporated into nursing practice for all patients diagnosed with cancer. Given broad negative associations with other biobehavioral factors, early identification of patients at risk and provision and evaluation of stress and mood management programs may have a beneficial effect on subsequent health outcomes over time. 1. Introduction Cancer diagnosis is a significant source of psychological stress/distress (hereinafter referred to as stress), followed by an extended period of stressful cancer treatment [1¨C3]. Not surprisingly, patients with a diagnosis of cancer report high psychological and emotional stress [4]. Although initial stress tends to decline over time for most patients, many others continue to suffer from high stress for years even after the successful completion of cancer treatment [1]. Studies indicate that up to 30% of patients report high stress levels years from breast cancer diagnosis and surgery [1, 5]. Some patients even experience posttraumatic stress disorder precipitated by cancer diagnosis [6, 7]. Mood disturbance, particularly of depression and anxiety, is common with cancer diagnosis and has been highly correlated with psychological stress [8, 9]. About 20¨C40% of cancer patients have reported significant levels of depressive mood and anxiety, and these patients typically have reported higher frequency and severity of clinical symptoms, including pain, fatigue, poor appetite, sleep disturbance, and poor quality of life [10¨C15]. In
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.nursing/2012/608039/