Depression Risk for Partners
Posted 10/11/2010
Posted in
It is not a surprise that partners of women with breast cancer (and, presumably, partners of people with any kind of cancer) are at increased risk of depression or mood disorders. We all know that this situation is extremely difficult for patients and their families, and the partner/spouse is likely not receiving the same kind of family and community support as is the patient.
A study from Denmark (Nakaya N, Saito-Nakaya K, Bidstrup PE, et al. Increased risk for severe depression in male partners of women with breast cancer. Cancer [early nline publication]. September 27, 2010.0, just published in the journal Cancer, as presented in the Komen Foundation's News, states:
In this large study in Denmark, researchers evaluated how a diagnosis of breast cancer impacted the mental health of the patient's male partner—specifically, how often male partners were hospitalized with affective
disorders. Data were analyzed from over 1.1 million men who were followed for 13 years. Men included in the analysis were 30 years or older and had been with the same partner for a minimum of five years. All 1.1
million men included in the analysis had no history of hospitalization for an affective disorder.
20,538 partners of the 1.1 million men evaluated were diagnosed with breast cancer. 180 men of the 20,538 whose partners were diagnosed with breast cancer were hospitalized with an affective disorder; men whose partners were diagnosed with breast cancer were 39% more likely to be hospitalized with an affective disorder.
An increase in likelihood of hospitalization due to an affective disorder was also linked to a partner's severity of breast cancer, breast cancer recurrence, as well as death due to breast cancer.
To read more: http://tinyurl.com/22seelo
Tags: