Prevalence of depression, trait anxiety, and social support during the diagnostic phases of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the prevalence of depression, trait anxiety, and social support among women suspected of breast cancer (BC) and to investigate the association of these factors with the diagnosis of BC. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 745 women who presented with breast symptoms in a university breast clinic in Malaysia. Participants were instructed to respond to self-report questionnaires on depression, trait anxiety, and social support while they were waiting for assessment of their suspected BC. The final diagnoses of these patients were traced one month after examining their medical records. Descriptive statistics were performed to examine the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of all participants. A multiple regression analysis was carried out to determine the association of the abovementioned factors with the diagnosis of BC. RESULTS: The analysis showed that BC was diagnosed in 109 (14.6%), benign breast disease (BBD) in 550 (73.8%), and healthy breast (HB) in 86 (11.5%) women. The prevalence of depression was 53.2% in women with BC, 53.6% in women with BBD, and 60.5% in women with HB prior to diagnosis. The prevalence of trait anxiety was 33%. Mean scores for trait anxiety were 42.2 ± 9.0 and 41.8 ± 9.1 for the BC group and BBD group, respectively. The level of perceived social support was similar in all three groups. CONCLUSION: We found no significant difference in depression, trait anxiety, and social support among women with newly diagnosed BC, BBD, and HB in women with breast symptoms while undergoing diagnostic evaluation. A longitudinal study is essential to establish the association between chronic mental stress and BC.

Relations of Bedtime Mobile Phone Use to Cognitive Functioning, Academic Performance, and Sleep Quality in Undergraduate Students.

The present cross-sectional study examined the relations of bedtime mobile phone use to cognitive functioning, academic performance, and sleep quality in a sample of undergraduate students. Three hundred eighty-five undergraduate students completed a self-administered questionnaire containing sociodemographic variables, bedtime mobile phone use, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (attention and verbal memory). At bivariate level, increased scores in bedtime mobile phone use were significantly correlated with decreased scores in academic performance and sleep quality. Our multivariate findings show that increased scores in bedtime mobile phone use uniquely predicted decreased scores in academic performance and sleep quality, while controlling for gender, age, and ethnicity. Further untangling the relations of bedtime mobile phone use to academic performance and sleep quality may prove complex. Future studies with longitudinal data are needed to examine the bidirectional effect that bedtime mobile phone use may have on academic performance and sleep quality.

The Use of Methylphenidate for Physical and Psychological Symptoms in Cancer Patients: A Review.

BACKGROUND: One of the goals of cancer treatment is symptoms management especially at the end stage. The common symptoms in cancer include pain, fatigue, depression and cognitive dysfunction. The available treatment options for symptom management are limited. Methylphenidate, a psychostimulant, may be of benefit for these patients. In this report, we review the use of methylphenidate for symptoms control in cancer patients. METHOD: Electronic literature search on PubMed was conducted using the following keywords: methylphenidate, cancer, carcinoma, oncology, oncological and tumour. We identified forty two relevant studies and publications on the use of methylphenidate in cancer patients to be included in this review. RESULTS: Methylphenidate was found to have some evidence in reducing opioid-induced sedation, improving cognitive symptoms and reduction of fatigue in cancer patients. Nevertheless, the results were inconsistent due to variations in the study populations, study design and outcome measures, among others. There was minimal evidence on its use in treating depression. Otherwise, methylphenidate was generally well-tolerated by patients. CONCLUSION: This review potentially supports the use of methylphenidate for opioid-induced sedation, cognitive decline and fatigue in cancer patients. Further placebo-controlled trials would help in strengthening the evidence for this treatment.