ACTA ONCOLOGICA TURCICA, vol.56, no.3, pp.198-209, 2023 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Aim: Questioning and recognizing depression, sleep and sexual dysfunctions in breast cancer patients improves the patients’ quality of life. We aimed to evaluate the effects of adjuvant endocrine treatment and other variables on depression, sleep quality and sexual dysfunction in patients with early-stage breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Our study was performed with the participation of 105 patients who were diagnosed with hormone receptor positive, early stage (stage I-III) breast cancer and at least 3 months followed by the medical oncology outpatient clinic. Sociodemographic form, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) were used as data collection tools. Results: According to the results obtained in our study, 55.8% patients had depression, 60.6% patients had poor sleep quality, 77.1% had poor sexual function. A tendency to sexual dysfunction was observed in patients with PR positivity and it was found to be statistically significant (P=0.005). There was a strong (p<0.001) correlation between the PSQI and BDI values of the patients. There was no significant relationship between different endocrine therapy agents (tamoxifen/anastrozole/letrozole) in patients with depression, sleep and sexual dysfunction (p> 0.05). Conclusion: In our study, we found a tendency to depression, sleep disturbance, and sexual dysfunction in most patients. It was found that sleep disorders and sexual dysfunction increased in patients with depression. It was also statistically significant that hormone receptor status could affect sexual function. Therefore, symptoms related to depression, sleep and sexual problems should be questioned in patients followed up with a diagnosis of breast cancer.