Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in patients with breast disease and breast cancer: a prospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: In 1972, Beck introduced an inventory (BDI) for rapid screening of depression. The associations between the BDI and the risk of breast cancer (BC) are rarely considered together in prospective studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In an extension of the Kuopio Breast Cancer Study, 115 women with breast cancer symptoms were semi-structurally interviewed in-depth as well as asked to complete standardised questionnaires (Forsen, Spielberger, MADRS), and all study variables were obtained before any diagnostic procedures were carried out. BDI was used to evaluate the depression of the study participants.
RESULTS: The clinical examinations and biopsies showed BC in 34 patients, benign breast disease (BBD) in 53 patients, and 28 individuals were shown to be healthy (HSS). There was a trend for the women with HSS to have less sadness (BDI mean score, 0.27) than those of the BC (BDI mean score, 0.56) and BBD groups (BDI mean score, 0.49). The HSS group tended to be less pessimistic (BDI mean score, 0.15) than the patients in the BC group (BDI mean score, 0.44) and in the BBD group (BDI mean score, 0.42). The HSS group also had less self-accusation (BDI mean score, 0.19) than the patients in the BC group (BDI mean score, 0.50) and the patients in the BBD group (BDI mean score, 0.62). The HSS group also reported less work inhibition and weight loss than the patients in the BC group and in the BBD group. The mean sum of the scores of BDI variables was significantly lower in the HSS group (BDI mean score, 7.1) than in the BC (BDI mean score, 8.4) or BBD groups (BDI mean score, 8.8).
CONCLUSION: The results of this study do not support a specific link between BDI and breast cancer risk. However, the patients with BC and BBD tended to have an increased risk for depressive symptoms.