Stress in Women with Breast Cancer Compared to the Healthy Ones

The purpose of this study was comparing the stress of breast cancer patients to that of healthy women. A sample of 65 breast cancer patients were selected from "Imam-Khomeini Cancer Institute" (from summer to autumn of 2008). They were chosen from the available patients who were diagnosed with cancer for less than two months. Variables such as marital status, economic status, age and education were taken into consideration in both the experimental and the control groups. Pickle's "life event" questionnaire (1971) was used to assess the stress in those groups. The data were analyzed using t-test. The results suggest that the stress in breast cancer patients is significantly higher than others. Moreover, women who bereaved the loss of a relative, had unwanted pregnancy or experienced divorce had more stress.