RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Breast Cancer and COVID-19: The Effect of Fear on Patients' Decision-making Process
JF In Vivo
JO In Vivo
FD International Institute of Anticancer Research
SP 1651
OP 1659
DO 10.21873/invivo.11957
VO 34
IS 3 suppl
A1 GIANLUCA VANNI
A1 MARCO MATERAZZO
A1 MARCO PELLICCIARO
A1 SARA INGALLINELLA
A1 MAURIZIO RHO
A1 FRANCESCA SANTORI
A1 MARIA COTESTA
A1 JONATHAN CASPI
A1 ANNA MAKAROVA
A1 CHIARA ADRIANA PISTOLESE
A1 ORESTE CLAUDIO BUONOMO
YR 2020
UL http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/34/3_suppl/1651.abstract
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.