title: Depressed mood in breast cancer survivors: associations with physical activity, cancer-related fatigue, quality of life, and fitness level.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  One out of five cancer survivors suffer from depression after oncology treatment. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between depression and quality of life (QoL), cancer-related symptoms, physical activity level, health-related fitness, and salivary flow rate in breast cancer survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  108 breast cancer survivors in the year after the conclusion of treatment were included in this cross-sectional study. Demographic and clinically relevant information, cancer-related fatigue (Piper Fatigue Scale), QoL (QLQ-Br23 module), pain intensity VAS scale, salivary flow rate, physical activity level (Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire), and health-related fitness were assessed in all participants. Depressed mood was measured with the Profile of Mood States (POMS) Depression subscale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant positive correlations between depressed mood and fatigue, systemic side effects, perceived shoulder pain, and breast-arms symptoms (r ranged between .57 and .28, P < .01) were found. In addition, significant negative correlations between depressed mood and body image, future perspective, force handgrip, and physical activity level (r ranged between -.41 and -.19; p < .05) were found. Regression analyses revealed that cancer-related fatigue, physical activity level, systemic side effects, and body image were significant predictors of depressed mood, and when combined, they explained 39.6% of the variance in depressed mood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cancer-related fatigue, physical activity level, and QoL partially explain the variability of depressed mood in breast cancer survivors. This paper facilitates a better understanding of the relationship between depressed mood and possible factors associated with it.
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Instituto Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Noelia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Galiano-Castillo
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Instituto Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; University Hospital San Cecilio, Health Andalusian Service, Avda. Madrid s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ariza-García
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Instituto Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cantarero-Villanueva
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Instituto Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-Lao
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Instituto Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Díaz-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Instituto Investigación Biosanitaria (IBS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain. Electronic address: marroyo@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Morales
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001828:Body Image; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D013030:Spain; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Breast cancer; Cancer-related fatigue; Depression; Fitness; Survivorship