Managing Symptom Distress: Key Factors for Patients on Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Psychology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) for breast cancer causes symptoms affecting mood, quality of life (QOL), and treatment adherence.
• Understanding factors that mitigate these symptom impacts is crucial for patient well-being and treatment success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how coping ability and self-efficacy for symptom management influence the relationship between symptom distress and patient outcomes.
• Specifically examining moderation effects on mood, QOL, AET adherence, and satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial collected baseline data on sociodemographics, symptom distress, coping skills, self-efficacy, anxiety, depression, QOL, AET adherence, and satisfaction.
• Moderated regression analyses were used to test the moderating roles of coping and self-efficacy.

Main Results:

• Coping skills moderated the impact of symptom distress on depression and QOL, particularly for patients with lower coping abilities.
• Self-efficacy moderated the effects of symptom distress on depression, AET adherence, and satisfaction, with higher self-efficacy associated with worse outcomes under high distress.

Conclusions:

• Coping skills appear to buffer the negative effects of AET symptom distress on depression and QOL.
• The interplay between symptom distress and self-efficacy is complex and warrants further investigation to optimize patient support.