The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological stress in breast cancer patients

Bartmann, Catharina; Fischer, Leah-Maria; Hübner, Theresa; Müller-Reiter, Max; Wöckel, Achim; McNeill, Rhiannon V.; Schlaiß, Tanja; Kittel‐Schneider, Sarah; Kämmerer, Ulrike; Diessner, Joachim

doi:10.1186/s12885-021-09012-y

Cited by 29 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Our results align with other studies, such that Gebbia et al also reported dominant emotions such as fear, anger, and sadness [7]. Other studies note that women experienced worry and concern during the pandemic [22][23]25]. Women also reported emotional distress concerning changes to their BCC experiences [24].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Changes in Breast Cancer Care in New York During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fiederlein¹,

Rosado²,

Cutter³

2022

AJBLS

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Breast cancer is the second most common malignancy among women in the United States. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused medical facilities to change their methods of operation since March of 2020, including changes in diagnosis and treatment plans. New York (NY) has an unusually high incidence of breast cancer. This study analyzed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer care (BCC) in NY. Women in NY that were diagnosed with or in remission for breast cancer were asked to take an online, anonymous survey regarding their BCC experience. For patients in treatment, 26% of women wished they had greater emotional support or had a family member included in their appointments. 39% of women do not feel they are receiving as good of care as before, while 31% feel they are receiving the same level of care. Additionally, 41% of women feel they received the same level of care over telemedicine. Our data show a negative correlation between the quality of care received during the pandemic and the wish for more emotional support and inclusion of supportive members in the care process (nonsignificant). There was less of a negative correlation between the quality of telemedicine care received during the pandemic and the wish for more emotional support and inclusion of supportive members in the care process (nonsignificant). This indicates that most women lacking emotional support reported worse BCC experiences, and telemedicine use was not as troublesome to patients as the lack of emotional support. Most women in treatment and in remission reported negative feelings like fear when asked about their BCC experiences. Our data show the importance of emotional support for breast cancer patients and those in remission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our work could also provide clinicians with the knowledge necessary on how breast cancer care should be handled in an evolving pandemic such as COVID-19.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Changes in Breast Cancer Care in New York During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fiederlein¹,

Rosado²,

Cutter³

2022

AJBLS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For example, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaires, Distress Thermometer, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used in various studies [ 21 , 24 , 25 , 34 , 35 ] capturing disease-related distress that do not address the specific pandemic-related decisional dilemma. Other investigations addressed pandemic-related topics with a focus on risk perception [ 36 ]. Therefore, these results are only in part comparable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Conflicts in Clinical Care during COVID-19: A Patient Perspective

et al. 2022

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(1) Background: Uncertainty is typical for a pandemic or similar healthcare crisis. This affects patients with resulting decisional conflicts and disturbed shared decision making during their treatment occurring to a very different extent. Sociodemographic factors and the individual perception of pandemic-related problems likely determine this decisional dilemma for patients and can characterize vulnerable groups with special susceptibility for decisional problems and related consequences. (2) Methods: Cross-sectional data from the OnCoVID questionnaire study were used involving 540 patients from 11 participating institutions covering all major regions in Germany. Participants were actively involved in clinical treatment in oncology or psychiatry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Questionnaires covered five decision dimensions (conflicts and uncertainty, resources, risk perception, perception of consequences for clinical processes, perception of consequences for patients) and very basic demographic data (age, gender, stage of treatment and educational background). Decision uncertainties and distress were operationalized using equidistant five-point scales. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and various multivariate approaches. (3) Results: A total of 11.5% of all patients described intensive uncertainty in their clinical decisions that was significantly correlated with anxiety, depression, loneliness and stress. Younger and female patients and those of higher educational status and treatment stage had the highest values for these stressors (p < 0.001). Only 15.3% of the patients (14.9% oncology, 16.2% psychiatry; p = 0.021) considered the additional risk of COVID-19 infections as very important for their disease-related decisions. Regression analysis identified determinants for patients at risk of a decisional dilemma, including information availability, educational level, age group and requirement of treatment decision making. (4) Conclusions: In patients, the COVID-19 pandemic induced specific decisional uncertainty and distress accompanied by intensified stress and psychological disturbances. Determinants of specific vulnerability were related to female sex, younger age, education level, disease stages and perception of pandemic-related treatment modifications, whereas availability of sufficient pandemic-related information prevented these problems. The most important decisional criteria for patients under these conditions were expected side effects/complications and treatment responses.

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“…In a study carried out in Germany, psychological stress was evaluated in patients with breast cancer during the health crisis, where palliative patients were the ones who had more complaints about the presence of fatigue, pain, and loss of appetite, interfering with their quality of life. 31 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palliative Care in Breast Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Yanez

Goyanna

Fernandes

et al. 2022

Am J Hosp Palliat Care

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has harmed the provision of palliative care (PC) services for women with breast cancer due to all the restrictions that came along with the virus. Objective: To map the available evidence on the situation of PC in breast cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A scoping review was carried out based on the methodology proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The search was conducted in nine databases, one electronic repository, and one library, using controlled vocabularies. Results: Twenty-nine articles and seven documents were included. The majority (11.4% each) were published in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States, 38.9% addressed palliative radiotherapy (RT), and 47.2% consisted of recommendations. From the content analysis, five categories were obtained focused on the recommendations on changes in palliative treatment guidelines and the response of PC teams to the evolving crisis. Conclusions: The evidence pointed to the management of general PC, palliative RT, palliative chemotherapy, management of metastatic breast cancer, and use of technologies in palliative care. No recommendations were found to manage frequent symptoms in PC, indicating the need to develop primary studies that investigate these aspects in detail in this vulnerable group. Implications: The results contained in this document can provide professionals working in this field of care with a global view of how other teams have dealt with the pandemic, thereby identifying the best guidelines to apply in their reality, taking into account the clinical and social situation of each patient.

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The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological stress in breast cancer patients

Cited by 29 publications

References 38 publications

Changes in Breast Cancer Care in New York During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Changes in Breast Cancer Care in New York During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Decision Conflicts in Clinical Care during COVID-19: A Patient Perspective

Palliative Care in Breast Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

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