title: An exploratory analysis of fear of recurrence among African-American breast cancer survivors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fear of recurrence (FOR) is a psychological concern that has been studied extensively in cancer survivors but has not been adequately examined in African-American breast cancer survivors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This exploratory study describes the extent and nature of FOR in African-American breast cancer survivors. FOR is examined in relation to socio-demographic characteristics, treatment-related characteristics, psychological distress, and quality of life (QOL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed questionnaires assessing FOR, psychological distress, QOL, and demographic and treatment characteristics. Pearson r correlations, t tests, and ANOVAs were used to determine the association between FOR and demographic and treatment-related characteristics. Hierarchical multiple regression models were performed to investigate the degree to which FOR dimensions account for the variance in QOL and psychological distress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-one African-American breast cancer survivors participated in this study. The mean age of participants was 64.24 (SD = 12.3). Overall fears as well as concerns about death and health were rated as low to moderate. Role worries and womanhood worries were very low. Inverse relationships were observed between age and FOR dimensions. FOR was positively correlated with measures of psychological distress and negatively correlated with QOL. FOR significantly accounted for a portion of the variance in QOL and distress after controlling for other variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that African-American women in this sample demonstrated some degree of FOR. Results indicate that FOR among African-American breast cancer survivors decreases with age and time since diagnosis and co-occurs with psychological distress as well as diminished quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Howard University Cancer Center, 2041 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20060, USA. t_r_taylor@howard.edu.
authors.forename: Teletia R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Edward D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Huntley
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sween
authors.forename: Kepher
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makambi
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mellman
authors.forename: Carla D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carter-Nolan
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Frederick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology