Early diagnosis of depressive symptoms as part of the comprehensive management of breast cancer patients.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. A high percentage of these patients may have depressive symptoms and an early detection is crucial as part of a comprehensive management of the disease. Mao et al recently conducted a study constructing a depression risk predictive model in young and middle-aged breast cancer patients. Four questionnaires (a general one, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Perceived Social Support From Family Scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire) and the Visual Analogue Scale were used to examine the correlation between different variables and depressive symptoms. The constructed predictive model showed strong predictive capability with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.852 and high sensitivity and specificity values. However, the screening depression tools and questionnaires to assess social support or physical activity are not originally designed for oncological patients and further investigation to corroborate their applicability in this context is relevant. The cross-sectional design of the study prevents establishing clear causal relationships between the identified risk factors and depression. Besides, the study includes only a sample of Chinese patients and the applicability in a different sociocultural context is uncertain. Further investigation is crucial to corroborate the results in larger samples and different contexts.