Profiles of depressive symptoms and the association with anxiety and quality of life in breast cancer survivors: a latent profile analysis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine profiles of depressive symptoms and the association with anxiety and quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer survivors. Methods: A cross-sectional multicenter survey involving 5 hospitals in Korea was implemented between February 2015 and January 2017. A self-report survey included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Short Form 36, and State and Trait Anxiety Scale. Data from 347 patients were analyzed. Results: Latent profile analysis identified five profiles of depressive symptoms: (1) “no depression” (63.98%); (2) “mild depression with sleep problems” (16.43%); (3) “mild depression” (8.65%); (4) “moderate depression with anhedonia” (7.78%); and (5) “moderately severe depression” (3.17%). Results from Fisher’s exact test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine whether sociodemographic and clinical characteristics distinguish the classes indicated that marital status, income and education as well as C-reactive protein distinguished a few classes. Multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance results indicated that both types of anxiety as well as several dimensions of QOL differed between the identified classes. Conclusions: The current results suggest that although identified classes were characterized overall by severity of depression, a few classes also reflected pronounced individual symptom patterns, warranting tailored interventions for these symptom patterns, along with overall severity of depression.