Dependable social relationships predict overall survival in Stages II and III breast carcinoma patients.
OBJECTIVE
The effect of support, from dependable non-household relationships, on breast cancer progression was studied using a prospective, longitudinal design.


METHODS
Dependable social support was assessed in women with invasive breast carcinoma Stages II and III within 18 months after diagnosis. Disease outcome was monitored for 8 to 9 years. Cox regression analyses, including the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) score of disease severity, tested the association between the number of dependable support persons and time to death.


RESULTS
Ninety participants listed between 1 and 16 dependable nonhousehold support persons (mean = 6, S.D. = 4). There were 21 recurrences and 16 deaths from breast cancer at the end of the study. The number of dependable supports predicted decreased mortality [RR = 0.41 (0.21-0.80), P = .01] after controlling for NPI. NPI predicted increased mortality [RR = 1.6 (1.0, 2.4), P = .05].


CONCLUSIONS
For patients with Stages II and III breast cancer, the number of dependable, nonhousehold relationships predicts decreased mortality, after accounting for disease severity.
Weihs
Karen L
KL
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. weihs@email.arizona.edu
Simmens
Samuel J
SJ
Mizrahi
Joan
J
Enright
Timothy M
TM
Hunt
Martha E
ME
Siegel
Robert S
RS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012944:Social Support