title: Depression and religiosity and their correlates in Lebanese breast cancer patients.
abstract: Breast cancer bears considerable morbidity and mortality and is well known to increase the risk of major depression, whereas religiosity has been reported to be protective. We searched for an association between depression and religiosity in breast cancer patients. We also sought to find an association between depression and various sociodemographic and disease variables.
  
  
  
  One hundred two patients were interviewed. Sociodemographic, cancer profile, and religiosity questionnaires were administered. We screened for depressive disorders by using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the Beck Depression Inventory.
  
  
  
  Most of our participants (n = 79; 77.4%) had high religiosity score. The prevalences of lifetime major depression, current major depression, and major depression after cancer diagnosis were 50.9%, 30.1%, and 43.1%, respectively. We could not find a correlation between religiosity and current depression, while the association with depression after cancer diagnosis was close to but did not reach statistical significance (P = .055) and in favor of a deleterious role of religiosity. Depression was only linked to marital status and insurance coverage. No association was found with disease-related variables.
  
  
  
  Religiosity does not seem to be protective against depression development. The stress of cancer appears to be the main culprit in increasing the risk of depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abou Kassm
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, St Joseph University, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Sani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hlais
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology/Oncology, Saint Charles Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Khater
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology/Oncology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Issam
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chehade
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Ramzi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Johnny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chahine
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic surgery, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yazbeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abi Warde
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Wadih
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Naja
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D019263:Dysthymic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007861:Lebanon / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012067:Religion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: breast cancer; dysthymia; psycho-oncology, depression; religiosity