Choice of surgery for early breast cancer: Pre- and postoperative levels of clinical anxiety and depression in patients and their husbands

Two groups of patients with early breast cancer were studied prospectively to assess whether being offered a choice of surgery (simple mastectomy or wide excision plus radiotherapy) influenced levels of anxiety and depression pre- and postoperatively. A significantly higher percentage of the patients not offered a choice of surgery experienced high levels of anxiety and depression pre-operatively and up to 2 months postoperatively compared with patients offered a choice; the results were also similar for the husbands of these patients. At 4 months, differences between the two groups were not statistically significant, although the trend remained the same with more patients not offered a choice of treatment showing high levels of anxiety and depression. Patients offered a choice of surgery had similar pre- and postoperative levels of anxiety and depression to patients with benign breast disease and patients undergoing surgery for non-cancerous conditions.