Risk Factors For Anxiety And Depression In Husbands Of Breast Cancer Patients

Objective:The high prevalence of psychological disorders in husbands of breast cancer patients has been noted,but there is less data on this in low-income areas of China.The purpose of the present study was to investigate and analyze the risk factors for anxiety and depression in the husbands of patients with breast cancer during pre-and postoperative periods.Methods:Between October 2021 and May 2022,women with breast cancer and their husbands participated in this prospective cross-sectional study and completed questionnaires,including the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and the Hamilton Depression Scale,during breast cancer diagnosis and post-operative.The patients were recruited from the Shanxi Bethune Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University.Results:The median age of the wives was 51 years(range: 34-67 years),45.7% were premenopausal,69.5% had an anterior lymph node biopsy,75.3% had stage I or II breast cancer,78.1% had invasive ductal carcinoma,41.0% underwent breast conserving surgery(BCS),30.5% had axillary lymph node dissection(ALDN),and 65.7% of patients were molecularly typed as HR+/HER2-.The husband’s median age was 53 years(range: 34-70 years)his median length of marriage was 29 years(range: 1-46 years),62.9% had non-employee health insurance,19.0% had primary education or less,42.9%had 1 child and 28.6% were in retirement.The prevalence of husband anxiety and depression was 34.3% and 22.9%,respectively,at the time of diagnosis and 25.7% and21.0%,respectively,after surgery.Significant variables for univariate analysis of husband anxiety/depression at diagnosis were patient anxiety,patient depression,number of children,husband’s education level/type of health insurance,number of children,and husband’s education level,and for postoperative patients,significant variables for univariate analysis of husband anxiety/depression were patient depression,type of health insurance,number of children,husband’s education level,TNM classification,number of lymph node metastases,surgical mode/type of health insurance,husband’s education level,TNM classification,tumour size,number of lymph node metastases,receptor type,and axillary treatment.Multivariate regression analysis showed that having two or more children at the time of wife’s diagnosis([OR]= 4.66,95% CI: 1.76,12.33),patient having depression([OR]= 4.49,95% CI: 1.30,15.43)was significantly associated with husband’s anxiety,and after patient’s surgery,patient having depression([OR]= 5.80,95% CI:1.60,21.10),the patient underwent axillary lymph node dissection([OR] = 3.85,95% CI:1.41,10.48)and having two or more children in the family([OR] = 4.13,95% CI:1.35,12.60)was significantly associated with anxiety in the husband.At the time of the wife’s diagnosis,low education([OR] = 0.29;95% CI,0.10-0.89)was significantly associated with the onset of depression in the husband,after the patient had undergone axillary lymph node dissection([OR] = 4.67,95% CI: 1.49,14.6),a positive HER2([OR]= 7.05,95% CI: 1.19 25.89),and lower husband education([OR]=0.16,95% CI :0.04,0.60)were significantly associated with the occurrence of depression in the husband.Conclusion:In clinical practice,it is important to pay more attention to patients’ husbands who have limited education,high family parenting burden,whose Wives undergo radical axillary treatment,whose Wives are HER2 positive,and whose Wives with psychopathological problems in low-income areas of China.This should be done to take care of patients’ husbands’ emotions.Alleviating husbands’ distress may in turn reduce patients’ distress and consequently improve patients’ quality of life.