Depression, anxiety and quality of life through the use of complementary and alternative medicine among breast cancer patients in Turkey

• Published in: Journal of cancer research and therapeutics Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 962 - 966
• Main Authors: Kalender, Mehmet Emin, Buyukhatipoglu, Hakan, Balakan, Ozan, Suner, Ali, Dirier, Ahmet, Sevinc, Alper, Bulbul, Feridun, Tatli, Ali Murat, Ulas, Turgay, Camci, Celaletdin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01-10-2014; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alternative medicine; Anxiety; Anxiety - complications; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Complementary Therapies; Depression (Mood disorder); Depression - complications; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Middle Aged; Psychological aspects; Quality of Life; Religion; Risk factors; Social aspects; Surveys and Questionnaires; Treatment Outcome; Turkey; Turkey
• ISSN: 0973-1482; 1998-4138
• DOI: 10.4103/0973-1482.138010

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer amongst women today. The aim of this study was to examine the association between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and the quality of life (QoL), anxiety and depression and demographic characteristics of women with breast cancer.
QoL was measured by the European Organization for Treatment and Research of Cancer quality of life core questionnaire (QLQ-C30, version 3.0) and anxiety and depression was measured by the hospital anxiety and depression scale.
In total, 122 patients with breast cancer were enrolled in the study and 50% (n=61) of them reported that they were using CAM. The most commonly used CAM methods were stinging nettle (57%) and prayer and spiritual healing (49%). No relationship was found between the use of CAM and the patient's age, time to diagnosis, cancer stage, chemotherapy use, smoking and residence. However, the analyses showed a positive association between CAM and role functioning (P=0.014) and financial difficulties (P=0.011); and a negative association between CAM and emotional functioning (P=0.033).
Based on the previous studies, 20-83.3% of breast cancer patients among different countries and cultures used CAM. Our results suggested that the use of CAM among women is quite popular, but they showed no correlation between CAM usage and anxiety and depression. In addition, CAM usage was more common in breast cancer patients with a poor emotional and financial status.