PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - VANNI, GIANLUCA
AU  - MATERAZZO, MARCO
AU  - PELLICCIARO, MARCO
AU  - INGALLINELLA, SARA
AU  - RHO, MAURIZIO
AU  - SANTORI, FRANCESCA
AU  - COTESTA, MARIA
AU  - CASPI, JONATHAN
AU  - MAKAROVA, ANNA
AU  - PISTOLESE, CHIARA ADRIANA
AU  - BUONOMO, ORESTE CLAUDIO
TI  - Breast Cancer and COVID-19: The Effect of Fear on Patients' Decision-making Process
AID  - 10.21873/invivo.11957
DP  - 2020 Jun 01
TA  - In Vivo
PG  - 1651--1659
VI  - 34
IP  - 3 suppl
4099  - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/34/3_suppl/1651.short
4100  - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/34/3_suppl/1651.full
SO  - In Vivo2020 Jun 01; 34
AB  - Background/Aim: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak is currently having a huge impact on medical resource allocation. Breast Cancer (BC) patients are concerned both with BC treatment and COVID-19. This study aimed to estimate the impact of anxiety among patients, caused by the spreading of COVID-19. Patients and Methods: Between the 16th of January and the 20th of March 2020, we retrospectively enrolled 160 patients. Eighty-two patients with a suspected breast lesion (SBL) were divided into two groups: PRE-COVID-19-SBL and POST-COVID-19-SBL. Seventy-eight BC patients were divided into PRE-COVID-19-BC and POST-COVID-19-BC. Patient characteristics including age, marital status, SBL/BC diameter, personal and family history of BC, clinical stage and molecular subtype were recorded. Procedure Refusal (PR) and Surgical Refusal (SR) were also recorded with their reason. Results: BC and SBL analysis showed no difference in pre-treatment characteristics (p>0.05). Both POST-COVID-19-SBL and POST-COVID-19-BC groups showed higher rates of PR and SR (p=0.0208, p=0.0065 respectively). Infection risk represented primary reason for refusal among POST-COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: COVID-19-related anxiety could affect patients' decision-making process.