Psychological Symptoms and Health Related Quality of Life in Patients with Mastalgia

Background: Mastalgia is common among women and its aetiology is still not fully understood. Studies are conducted to reveal the relationship between breast pain and psychosomatic disorders. The goals of the project are to compare the interaction of psychological symptoms and health related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with mastalgia between East and West of Turkey. Materials and Methods: Seventy-four women from the General Surgery Clinic of Diyarbakır Ergani Hospital (Eastern group) (n=39) and Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine (Western group) (n=35) were included in the study. The symptom checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R) scales was used to evaluate physiological findings and Short Form-36 (SF-36) scales was used for evaluating health related quality of life (HRQL). Results: Median age of patients from Eastern group was 27.54 (18-39) years and 35.57 (18-70) years in Western group (t=-4.585, P<0.0001). Average Global Severity İndex (GSI) scores of the eastern group were statistically significantly higher than the western group (P<0.01). When the SCL-90-R values ​​of the eastern and western groups are compared, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, phobic anxiety, psychoticism, depression and anxiety in the eastern group are higher than the western group. According to SF-36 results, the mean scores in the eastern group tended to be lower than in the western group. Conclusion: The results revealed that psychological symptoms differ between east and west of Turkey. This may indicate that socio-economic differences may also have effects on psychological symptoms. In addition, mastalgia negatively affects women's quality of life.