Mastalgia: psychoneurosis or organic disease?

Area of Science:

• Medical Research
• Psychosomatic Medicine
• Surgical Pathology

Background:

• The traditional surgical view posits breast pain (mastalgia) is primarily psychoneurotic.
• This study challenges the psychosomatic hypothesis of mastalgia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the psychological profiles of women with mastalgia.
• To compare mastalgia patients with control groups to assess neuroticism levels.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire to 317 women with mastalgia and 170 controls with varicose veins.
• Compared scores with 173 psychiatric outpatients.
• Analyzed differences between cyclical mastalgia and periductal mastitis patients.

Main Results:

• Mastalgia and varicose vein groups showed similar psychoneurotic scores.
• Women with varicose veins exhibited higher psychoneurotic scores than mastalgia patients.
• Both surgical outpatient groups scored lower on neuroticism than psychiatric patients, except for treatment-resistant cases.

Conclusions:

• Mastalgia patients are not inherently more neurotic than those with varicose veins.
• Mastalgia differs significantly from recognized psychoneurosis.
• Most mastalgia has a physiological or pathological basis, necessitating appropriate medical evaluation and care.