A recent study reveals that women of lower classes have a greater chance of depression and anxiety after being diagnosed with the precancerous breast condition, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Women with financial difficulties could need more psychosocial interventions that offer support if financial status is inversely connected with the stress of discovering near-fatal diseases, specifically after the 9 month follow up period.
Research, and personal experience, reveal how financial status affects a person's overall mental and physical state. Few studies however, have analyzed the affects that socioeconomic status has on a person's psychological health after being diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Anxiety and depression can significantly alter breast cancer treatment benefits if not addressed. The study also revealed that a woman's education level or the presence of social support did not directly affect developing anxiety or depression.
The study, conducted on 487 women recently diagnosed with DCIS, were given questions about sociodemographic, psychosocial, and clinical characteristics from the onset of enrollment to nine months after their diagnosis. The results clearly revealed that women with financial hardships declared higher levels of anxiety and depression than women with no financial concerns. In fact, women with no financial hardship reported a decrease in anxiety and depression over time.
"Women with medium or low socioeconomic status are forced to manage competing stressors: the stress of financial hardship and the stress of a major health event," states Janet de Moor, MPH, PhD, of The Ohio State University College of Public Health, "Because these concomitant stressors leave women vulnerable to escalating distress after their DCIS diagnosis, women with medium or low financial status may benefit from psychosocial interventions."
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer and 1 out of 8 American women who live to be 85 years old will develop breast cancer.
This study was published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Written By Amy Munday
Huliq.com
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