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Mood disorders did not further delay diagnostic resolution after abnormal mammograms
Kronman AC. J Gen Intern Med. 2011;doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1920-5.
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A pre-existing mood disorder, such as depression or anxiety, did not further delay diagnostic resolution after an abnormal mammogram or Pap test, according to the findings of a small retrospective chart review study.
Because delayed diagnostic resolution results in worse cancer outcomes, the researchers sought to determine whether a prediagnosis of depression or anxiety caused women to delay resolution after an abnormal cancer screening.
The study included data from the Boston Patient Navigation Research Program on adult women with an abnormal screening Pap test or mammogram that was performed from 2004 to 2005 at one of six Boston-area community health centers.
Of these women, 523 had an abnormal mammogram and 474 had an abnormal Pap test. Seventeen percent had pre-existing depression and 8.5% had pre-existing anxiety.
Data indicated that of women with abnormal mammogram, 19% had co-morbid depression. Of those with abnormal Pap tests, 16% had depression.
Overall, no difference was found in time to diagnostic resolution between women with or without depression for either an abnormal mammogram or Pap test.
“Our findings imply that pre-screening the electronic medical record for mood disorders may not be the most reliable approach to identify a group of patients at higher risk of delayed diagnostic resolution of abnormal cancer screening tests in a vulnerable population,” the researchers wrote.