August 06, 2024
Jennifer Corbett/Delaware News Journal; USA TODAY NETWORK
Women who have depression and breast cancer are three times more likely to die than women who have neither condition, new research shows. Above, a woman gets a mammogram at the Helen F. Graham Center in Delaware earlier this year.
Dealing with depression may lessen a woman's chance of beating breast cancer, new research has found.
The risk of death was more than triple for American women who had breast cancer and depression compared to those who had neither, according to a study published last month in the Brain Sciences journal. In comparison, women who only had breast cancer or depression were 1.45 times or 1.43 times more likely to die, respectively, than those who had neither.
"The combination is what makes the risk of death increase tremendously and leads to thousands of years of life lost," lead study author Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of public health sciences at New Mexico State University, said in a release. "We found in our study that the co-occurrence of depression further reduces survival among women with breast cancer. Unfortunately, many women with breast cancer do not get timely or quality care for mental health issues such as depression."
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. There are more than 4 million breast cancer survivors in the country, including women who are still being treated for the disease. An estimated 42,250 people will die from breast cancer this year.
The researchers said they hope their study leads to collaborative care that addresses the multiple physical and psychological health needs of women with breast cancer. They recommended cancer treatment facilities offer screening and counseling services for mental illnesses as a part of their patient treatment and management plans for breast cancer survivors.
"Unfortunately, a large proportion of women with breast cancer suffer from depression, poor mental health and lower quality of life. ... We all know or will know someone with breast cancer in our lifetimes," Khubchandani said. "Most likely, they will have poor psychological health or lower quality of life. It is in part because we do not have a comprehensive approach to health care for women with cancer."
The study analyzed data from 4,719 women ages 45 and older. Among the group, 5.1% had breast cancer and 12.7% had depression. The health data was taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005-2010 and linked to death records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers accounted for sociodemographic, lifestyle and disease-related measures to eliminate the influence of these factors.
Follow Franki & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @wordsbyfranki
| @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Have a news tip? Let us know.
