Main author: Huldís Franksdóttir Daly
Institution or Company: Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University
Co-Authors, Institution or Company:
Birna Baldursdóttir, Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University. Hannah Rós Sigurðardóttir Tobin, Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University. Heiðdís Valdimarsdóttir, Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University. Jakob Fannar Stefánsson, Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University. Snæfríður Guðmundsdóttir Aspelund, Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University. Þórhildur Halldórsdóttir, Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University.
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic may be particularly stressful for individuals undergoing cancer treatment. Their cancer treatment may be delayed due to the COVID-19-related increased burden on the healthcare system and they are at increased risk of serious illness if infected by COVID-19. This study is the first to assess psychological distress among Icelandic women newly diagnosed with breast cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Fifty newly diagnosed women with breast cancer completed measures of depression (CES-D), anxiety (GAD-7) and post-traumatic distress (IES-R) and an assessment of how COVID-19 affected their well-being and cancer treatment. Mental health outcomes were examined based on whether the assessment occurred during an active COVID-19 wave in Iceland or during a time with few new COVID-19 cases in the country.
Results: 26.7% of the participants exceeded the established cutoffs for a probable diagnosis of depression, 11% for a probable diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, 42% for a probable diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. These findings remained relatively stable, regardless of the COVID-19 status in Iceland. Approximately 43% of participants endorsed concerns that the pandemic would affect their cancer treatment and recovery. Yet, most participants (86%) reported no treatment delays due to COVID-19 and 68% indicated receiving good guidelines on avoiding contracting COVID-19.
Conclusions: These preliminary results suggested high psychological distress among women diagnosed with breast cancer. However, the women were very satisfied with how the healthcare system operated during the pandemic, which could explain why distress was not higher during the active COVID-19 outbreaks in Iceland.
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