The risk of stressful life events on breast cancer development

Abstract

Topic Overview: Breast cancer (BC) is a prevalent disease that diminishes the individuals‟ quality of life, increasing morbidity and mortality. In 2017, BC was the third-highest incident cancer, with 1,960 681 cases reported (Ministery for Health, 2017). BC has several predisposing factors including stressful life events (SLE) which are one of the psychological factors which increase BC risk or influence its development among adult women. In this dissertation, exposure to SLEs in increasing the risk of BC development will be studied. The research question: Does exposure to stressful life events increase breast cancer risk amongst adult women? PICO elements: The population (P) studied was adult women exposed to SLEs. The intervention (I) observed was whether exposure to SLEs increased BC risk. The comparison (C) intervention was no exposure to SLEs and the desired outcome (O) was increased risk of BC development. Method: The PICO elements from the review question were used as keywords to generate alternative terms. Such terms were combined with search tools and limiters to develop search strategies for each database. A systematic literature search was conducted, including EBSCO and PubMed. A manual search was also performed. The PRISMA checklist was used as a framework to screen articles. A detailed eligibility criteria was applied to select relevant articles. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, or case-control studies (CCS) were eligible for inclusion, and studies had to be published in the last ten years and written in English. All five key studies were selected for critical appraisal. CASP tools and Cochrane Collaboration's tool guided the critical appraisal process. Results: The key studies consisted of four CCSs and one meta-analysis. The studies' results were consistent and significant, outlining that the intervention is effective. However, several methodological limitations were identified, which could have potentially affected the obtained results. The research question of this review was answered definitively. Conclusion: From the retrieved literature, it was apparent that SLEs increase BC‟s risk, and through psychological treatment and support of such events, BC can be prevented and well managed. However, findings showed that further research is required to ascertain the effectiveness of SLEs in influencing the risk of BC development. Implications and recommendations: Healthcare professionals (HCP) and educational professionals need to be educated on the importance of SLEs to raise awareness, educate the general public, especially adult women and adequately manage SLEs and reduce BC incidence. Further research is required to increase research concerning such an association and develop effective strategies for better BC management. Recommendations for further research include implementing trials with larger sample sizes and which limit bias.