Anxiety, depression and quality of life in the course of mammography screening among women of the Madrid Region

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the emotional status of women who attend a breast cancer screening program and receive a negative result. Methods: Participants were selected among those who were called to be screened at four units of the Region of Madrid Breast Cancer Detection Program. Their levels of anxiety and depression (HAD) and their quality of life (SF-36) were measured in three occasions: immediately after mammography (personal interview), while waiting for the results and after knowing the negative result (phone interview). Results: 67.8% (n=82) of women 50 to 69 years old agreed to participate, but twelve of them were subsequently excluded because they needed a further mammography control soon. Scores decreased for anxiety (p<0.01) and depression (p<0.01) and increased for quality of life in its dimensions of “emotional rol” (p=0.02) and “mental health” (p=0.01). The youngest women (p=0.01) and those with a family history of cancer and breast cance (p=1) kept high anxiety levels. Women who considered that going to have a mammogram was a problem (p=0.03), who looked after other people (p=0.06) and who had more mammograms done (p=0.08), recovered from initial high anxiety levels. Conclusions: The breast cancer screening program is satisfactory for participants, medical consequences are benefi cial and no negative effects of screening on anxiety, depression and quality of life have been found.