title: Anxiety and its time courses during radiotherapy for non-metastatic breast cancer: a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To our knowledge, no study has specifically assessed the time course of anxiety during radiotherapy (RT). The objective of this study was to assess anxiety time courses in patients with non-metastatic breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This multicenter, descriptive longitudinal study included 213 consecutive patients with breast cancer who completed visual analog scales (VASs) assessing state anxiety before and after the RT simulation and the first and last five RT sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pre- and post-session anxiety mean levels were highest at the RT simulation (respectively, 2.9±2.9 and 1.6±2.5) and first RT session (respectively, 3.4±2.9 and 2.0±2.4), then declined rapidly. Clinically relevant mean differences (⩾1cm on the VAS) between pre- and post-simulation/session VAS scores were found only for the RT simulation (-1.3±2.7; p<0.001) and first RT session (-1.4±2.4; p<0.001). Five percent to 16% of patients presented clinically relevant anxiety (pre- and post-simulation/session VAS scores⩾4cm) throughout treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To optimize care, RT team members should offer all patients appropriate information about treatment at the simulation, check patients' understanding, and identify patients with clinically relevant anxiety requiring appropriate support throughout RT.
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Brussels, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Merckaert
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Brussels, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liénard
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Brussels, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Libert
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Etienne
authors.affiliation: Université Catholique de Louvain, Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Éducation, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reynaert
authors.affiliation: C.P.O. (Centre de Psycho-Oncologie), Brussels, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Slachmuylder
authors.affiliation: Université Catholique de Louvain, Faculté de Médecine, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scalliet
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Brussels, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Van Houtte
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, Faculté de Médecine, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coucke
authors.affiliation: Clinique Saint-Elisabeth, Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: Emile
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salamon
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Brussels, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: drazavi@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Darius
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Razavi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Anxiety; Cancer; Distress; Radiotherapy; Screening