Anxiety, depression, and quality of life in German ambulatory breast cancer patients.

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the predictors of health-related quality of life in ambulatory breast cancer patients.

Methods: A total of 107 breast cancer outpatients were tested with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the quality of life instrument EORTC QLQ-C30. Furthermore, the degree of social support and shared decision making (SDM) were assessed.

Results: In nearly all domains of EORTC QLQ-C30 the patients reported worse mean scores than the general population in a clinically significant range, especially in the symptom scales. Therapy-related factors and the degree of SDM contributed only marginally to quality of life. Social support, however, proved to be predictive of better mental health and better quality of life in many domains.

Conclusion: Irrespective of the therapy, the social network of the patients should be activated to help the patients to cope with the disease. However, the findings do not support the idea that enhanced SDM would have beneficial effects on mental health.