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Pre-Biopsy Psychological Factors Predict Patient Biopsy Experience

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Abstract

Background

Excisional/surgical breast biopsy has been related to anticipatory emotional distress, and anticipatory distress has been associated with worse biopsy-related outcomes (e.g., pain, physical discomfort).

Purpose

The present study was designed to investigate (a) whether anticipatory distress before an image-guided breast biopsy would correlate with biopsy-related outcomes (pain and physical discomfort during the biopsy) and (b) whether type of distress (i.e., general anxiety, worry about the procedure, worry about biopsy results) would differentially relate to biopsy-related outcomes.

Methods

Fifty image-guided breast biopsy patients (mean age = 44.4 years) were administered questionnaires pre- and post-biopsy. Pre-biopsy, patients completed the Profile of Mood States–tension/anxiety subscale and two visual analog scale items (worry about the biopsy procedure, worry about the biopsy results). Post-biopsy, patients completed two visual analog scale items (pain and physical discomfort at their worst during the procedure).

Results

The following results were gathered: (1) Pre-biopsy worry about the procedure was significantly related to both pain (r = 0.38, p = 0.006) and physical discomfort (r = 0.31, p = 0.026); (2) pre-biopsy general anxiety was significantly related to pain (r = 0.36, p = 0.009), but not to physical discomfort; and (3) Pre-biopsy worry about the biopsy results did not significantly relate to pain or physical discomfort.

Conclusions

Worry about the procedure was the only variable found to be significantly correlated with both biopsy-related outcomes (pain and physical discomfort). From a clinical perspective, this item could be used as a brief screening tool to identify patients who might be at risk for poorer biopsy experiences and who might benefit from brief interventions to reduce pre-biopsy worry.

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Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by the National Cancer Institute (CA131473, CA081137, CA129094) and by the American Cancer Society (RSGPB-04-213-01-CPPB). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, or American Cancer Society. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of the study participants for so graciously sharing their experiences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Sarah J. Miller, Julie B. Schnur, Laurie Margolies, Jaclyn Bolno, Janet Szabo, George Hermann & Guy H. Montgomery

  2. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Stephanie J. Sohl

Authors
  1. Sarah J. Miller
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  2. Stephanie J. Sohl
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  3. Julie B. Schnur
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  4. Laurie Margolies
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  5. Jaclyn Bolno
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  6. Janet Szabo
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  7. George Hermann
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  8. Guy H. Montgomery
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Correspondence to Sarah J. Miller.

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Miller, S.J., Sohl, S.J., Schnur, J.B. et al. Pre-Biopsy Psychological Factors Predict Patient Biopsy Experience. Int.J. Behav. Med. 21, 144–148 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9274-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9274-x

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