Evaluation of depression and anxiety levels and sleep quality in female patients with breast cancer diagnosis receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, with the majority of patients being hormone receptor-positive. Adjuvant endocrine therapy has been proven to be beneficial in these patients and is administered over a long duration. The effects of endocrine therapy on patients gain importance due to the prolonged treatment period. In this study, we examined the effects of endocrine therapies on patients' sleep quality, as well as the risk of depression and anxiety. Our study included 200 female breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy, who were followed up at the Medical Oncology Department of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine. A questionnaire was conducted to assess the patients' demographic and oncological characteristics. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate sleep quality, while the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess the risks of depression and anxiety. The patients were compared based on the type of endocrine therapy received, the duration of endocrine therapy, and demographic factors such as age groups. As a result of our study, it was shown that the use of tamoxifen (TMX) or aromatase inhibitors (AIs) did not create a significant difference in sleep quality or the risk of depression. However, the use of TMX was found to increase the risk of anxiety.