Physical exercise and psychosocial and emotional aspects in women with breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in Spain. Most studies in psychooncology focus on the approach of commorbid psychopathology, such as anxiety and depression. Several authors have reported the relationship between variables such as dispositional optimism and resilience, regarding psychological and subjective well-being in these patients. The practice of physical exercise seems to improve certain variables related to the mood, being able to be relevant in the achievement of an adequate emotional health. On the basis of these evidences, we propose to explore if the women that are in adjuvant treatment for breast cancer perform less exercise than other women without this pathology, as well as the existence of possible natural clusters that allow us to differentiate, if within these women, we found different typologies in relation to their perceived psychological quality of life levels (anxiety, depression, satisfaction with life, dispositional optimism and resilience). For this, the semi-structured interview of their own elaboration was administered, in addition to the sociodemographic data, if they performed physical exercise and frequency with which they performed it, as well as the questionnaires used to evaluate state / trait anxiety (STAI E / R), Depression (BDI), satisfaction with life (SWL), dispositional optimism (LOT-R), and resilience to a sample of 60 women, 30 of whom were being treated by the Oncology Unit of the Hospital de Jerez de la Border, For being treated for breast cancer. The results indicate that women with breast cancer who perform physical exercise, present lower levels of anxiety and depression and higher satisfaction with life, dispositional optimism and resilience.