The relationship between illness perception,anxiety,depression and marital adjustment in patients with breast cancer: A controlled study

The statement of problem: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between illness perception, anxiety, depression and marital adjustment in patients with breast cancer. Methods: The study was carried out with two groups; the first with 35 women with a diagnosis of breast cancer and the second with 35 women who do not have breast cancer and who have undergone a surgery with another disease. All participants were patients of the Outpatient Clinic of.Gaziosmanpasa Yeni Yüzyil University Hospital Oncology Center. Results: Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Data Form, the Marital Adjustment Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Illness Perception Scale. The mean ages of the study and the control groups were as follows, 47.03±7.79 and 44.51±9.00, respectively, with no statistically significant difference between. There were no statistically significant differences between the study group and the control group in terms of marital status, education, and occupation. Among the study and control groups, the age of menopause, the breast cancer story in the family, the relation between the disease and the surrounding area, the frequency of sexual intercourse after surgery, pleasure after sexual intercourse, clothing and self care after operation, satisfaction from operation, knowledge about disease, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and anxiety after surgery statistically significant difference. Dyadic Adjustment Scale scores were significantly lower in the breast cancer group compared to the control group. Similarly, anxiety and depression levels, measured by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, were significantly lower in the study group with breast cancer. On the other hand, breast cancer patients scored significantly higher in Illness Perception Scale scores in total and all sub-dimensions (symptoms, perception, causes). Conclusion: In summary, our study drew attention to illness perception, marital adjustment, anxiety and depression levels in patients with breast cancer and besides examined these with respect to certain disease variables and discussed under the light of previous studies. Key words: Breast cancer, illness perception, anxiety, depression, marital adjustment.