Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry

Objectives : In this study, we identified the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depressed mood in newly diagnosed women breast and thyroid cancer patients.

Methods : The subjects of this study were 1794 women patients who visited the Ewha Womans University Cancer Center for Women. They included 1119 newly diagnosed primary breast cancer patients and 675 newly diagnosed primary thyroid cancer patients. The patients completed the National Cancer Center Psychological Symptom Inventory (NCC-PSI) during their first follow-up visit after surgery, before starting chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The NCC-PSI is composed of the modified distress thermometer (MDT) and the modified impact thermometer (MIT) for insomnia, anxiety, and depressed mood.

Results : Anxiety severity was found to be greater in breast cancer patients than in thyroid cancer patients. Significant levels of anxiety, depressed mood and insomnia were present in 28, 24.5, and 20.7% in all the subjects, respectively. Moreover, anxiety symptoms, depressed mood and insomnia interfered with the daily lives of 20, 18.4, and 14.2% of all the subjects, respectively. Dealing with anxiety (18.8%) was found to need the most help, followed by dealing with insomnia (8.9%) and depressed mood (8.7%).

Conclusions : A significant level of distress was found in about 40% of the total subjects. Nearly 30% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients reported significant anxiety symptoms and interferences with daily living caused by anxiety, which most commonly needed special care. Early assessment and management of psychological distress, especially anxiety, in breast and thyroid cancer treatment are very important to establish integrated cancer care.

Keywords Breast cancer;Thyroid cancer;Anxiety;Depression;Insomnia;Distress.