University of Virginia: Depression, Anxiety Linked to Opioid Use in Older Women With Breast Cancer
Elderly women battling breast cancer who have anxiety, depression or other mental health conditions are more likely to use opioids and more likely to die, a new study led by the
The findings should encourage doctors to better manage mental health in patients with breast cancer and spur care providers to consider alternative pain management such as physical therapy, massage and acupuncture, the researchers say.
"The complex relationship among breast cancer, mental health problems and the use of opioids is not well understood, and the results of this study provide clinicians the evidence they need to make optimal patient treatment-related decisions," said lead researcher
Breast Cancer and Opioids
Breast cancer kills more than 40,000 people in
Balkrishnan and his team set out to shed light on the relationship among mental health, opioid use and breast cancer outcomes. To do that, they reviewed more than 10,000 breast cancer cases recorded in
The researchers sorted the cases into two groups: women with mental health diagnoses and those without. They found that those with mental health diagnoses had higher opioid use and lower survival rates.
"Opioid use is higher in the women with breast cancer who suffer from mental health comorbidities and remains a significant problem," the researchers write in a new paper outlining their findings. "In addition, mental health comorbidities also contribute to reduced survival in these women. A need exists for collaborative care in the management of mental health comorbidities in women with breast cancer, which could improve symptoms, adherence to treatment, and recovery from these mental conditions. Mental health treatments also are recommended to be offered in primary care, which not only would be convenient for patients, but also would reduce the stigma associated with treatments for mental health comorbidities and improve the patient-provider relationship."
The researchers, including UVA palliative care expert Dr.
Findings Published
The researchers published their findings in the
The researchers noted potential limitations to their study such as a lack of information on the opioids used and a lack of details on the patients' pain assessments. They also suggest that mental health conditions such as depression may be underdiagnosed and that, as a result, the research may underestimate the percentage of patients with those conditions.
Tan disclosed potential conflicts of interest including owning stock in and receiving compensation from biopharmaceutical company Merck. Balkrishnan disclosed that he has done consulting or advising for Merck.
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