Factors Associated with Psychological Distress among Women of African Descent at High Risk for BRCA Mutations
Factors Associated with Psychological Distress among Women of African Descent at High Risk for BRCA Mutations
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DOI：
10.1007/s10897-012-9510-1
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发表时间：
2013-02-01
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
Valdimarsdottir, Heiddis B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cukier, Yael R.;Thompson, Hayley S.;Valdimarsdottir, Heiddis B.
人们对非洲裔女性的心理困扰知之甚少，她们是BRCA突变的高危人群。对于这一群体来说，降低乳腺癌风险至关重要，因为该群体的乳腺癌死亡率很高。考虑痛苦是很重要的，因为它可能会减少遗传咨询的潜在好处，并对与降低风险有关的决策产生负面影响。目前这项研究的目标是检查BRCA突变高危非洲裔妇女的乳腺癌特有的痛苦和抑郁症状，并确定与这些结果相关的背景因素。参与者是148名高危非裔美国人和加勒比海女性，她们是一项更大规模研究的一部分，该研究为参与者提供免费的BRCA咨询。参与者完成了评估乳腺癌特有痛苦的事件影响量表和评估抑郁症状的流行病学研究中心抑郁量表。分析结果显示，几乎一半的样本获得了高分和临床显著的乳腺癌特有的痛苦，而近三分之一的人有临床显著的抑郁得分。结果进一步表明，低收入与癌症特有的痛苦显著相关，而癌症诊断与抑郁症状显著相关。这些结果强调了在整个遗传风险评估过程中对这一特定高危群体提供有针对性的心理支持的必要性。
Little is known about psychological distress among women of African descent who are at high risk for a BRCA mutation. This is a group for whom breast cancer risk reduction is critical due to the group's high rates of breast cancer mortality. Distress is important to consider as it may reduce the potential benefit of genetic counseling and negatively affect decision making related to risk reduction. The goals of the current study were to examine breast cancer-specific distress and depressive symptoms in women of African descent at who are at high risk for a BRCA mutation and to identify background factors associated with these outcomes. Participants were 148 high-risk African American and Caribbean women who were part of a larger study that offered participants BRCA counseling at no cost. Participants completed the Impact of Events Scale, which assessed breast cancer-specific distress, and the Center of Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, which assessed depressive symptoms. Results of analyses revealed that almost half of the sample achieved scores indicating high and clinically significant breast cancer-specific distress, while almost one-third had clinically significant depression scores. Results further showed that low income was significantly associated with cancer-specific distress, while having a cancer diagnosis was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. These results underscore the need for targeted psychological support throughout the genetic risk assessment process for this particular high-risk group.