Depressive symptoms during adverse economic and political circumstances: A comparative study on Greek female breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatment

The aim of this study was to search for an effect of the adverse economic and political events that took place in 2015 in Greece (threat of bankruptcy, referendum, capital controls) on depressive symptoms of breast cancer patients on chemotherapy. The clinician‐rated version of the Inventory of Depr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	European journal of cancer care Vol. 26; no. 6; pp. e12687 - n/a
Main Authors:	Pelekasis, P., Kampoli, K., Ntavatzikos, A., Charoni, A., Tsionou, C., Koumarianou, A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Hindawi Limited 01-11-2017
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use Bankruptcy Breast cancer Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy Breast Neoplasms - epidemiology Breast Neoplasms - pathology Breast Neoplasms - psychology Cancer Case-Control Studies Chemotherapy Comparative studies debt crisis Demographics depression Depression - epidemiology Depression - psychology Economic depression Economic Recession Economics Employment - statistics & numerical data Female Greece Greece - epidemiology Humans Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Marital Status Mental depression Mental disorders Mental health Middle Aged Mothers Neoplasm Staging Nursing Patients Political dissent Politics Quantitative analysis Social factors Social interactions Social organization Social Support Statistical analysis Womens health Young Adult Greece Greece breast cancer debt crisis Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology depression chemotherapy
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Summary:	The aim of this study was to search for an effect of the adverse economic and political events that took place in 2015 in Greece (threat of bankruptcy, referendum, capital controls) on depressive symptoms of breast cancer patients on chemotherapy. The clinician‐rated version of the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS‐C30) and a form documenting sociodemographic, medical and social network characteristics were administrated in two groups of patients: one in 2010 and one in the aftermath of the July 2015 events. No differences were found between medical, demographic and social characteristics. The IDS‐C30 median value of patients treated in 2010 was 28.07 (CI, 25.91–31.60), while that of the 2015's group was 18.00 (CI, 16.92–20.60), indicating less depressive symptoms for the second group. The analysis revealed that the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (p = <.001), denoting a strong effect size (r = .53). Lower depressive symptoms after the July 2015 events could be explained by different personal and social factors‐ most possibly an increase of social support to the most vulnerable—yet to be proven. Future research on the effect of striking economic and political events on mental health of a larger cohort of breast cancer patients is warranted.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0961-5423 1365-2354
DOI:	10.1111/ecc.12687