Losses Related to Breast Cancer Diagnosis: The Impact on Grief and Depression Symptomatology Within the Context of Hispanic/Latina Patients with Breast Cancer.

Abstract

Objective: The present study explored the association between the losses incurred due to breast cancer diagnosis, symptoms of depression, PANIC/GRIEF, and contextual factors within the context of Hispanic/Latina (H/L) patients diagnosed with breast cancer (BC). Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study of adult H/L BC patients (n = 129). The participants were H/L women diagnosed with breast cancer (stages 0-4) in the past five years. Sociodemographic variables were assessed, as well as depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9; Spanish version), grief (The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales, Grief subscale; Spanish version), and general losses (Grief diagnostic instrument for general practice, loss categories section). Results: The mean age for the sample was 55.37 (SD = 11.57). The most frequent non-death-related losses were loss of liberty (f = 63, p = 48.8%), followed by fear of own death (f = 67, p = 51.9%) and loss of quality of life (f = 65, p = 50.4%). A higher mean rank was observed in depressive symptomatology scores for those who experienced loss of liberty (U = 73.91, p < 0.008), quality of life (U = 77.30, p < 0.001), and fear of their own death (U = 74.88, p < 0.002). The results indicate a significant positive relationship between the number of reported losses and depressive symptomatology (r = 0.340, p < 0.001). In terms of contextual factors, the participants who reported their income not being enough to cover their expenses reported a greater number of losses related to diagnosis (U = 74.67, p < 0.001) and more depressive symptomatology (U = 69.84, p = 0.041). Moreover, a relationship was observed between grief and academic levels (r = -0.234, p = 0.008). Likewise, a relationship was observed between age and the number of losses (r = -0.461, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results provide new evidence on how primary non-death-related losses due to a breast cancer diagnosis impact the mental health of H/L BC patients.