Marital Distress May Affect Breast Cancer Recovery
(HealthDay News) -- Marriage problems are associated with poorer outcomes for women with breast cancer, a new U.S. study finds.
The researchers found that women in troubled marriages had higher levels of stress, less physical activity, slower recovery and more symptoms and signs of illness than women who reported good marriages. The research involved 100 women who were married or living with a partner at the start of the study and remained in the relationship during the five years of follow-up.
The findings were published online and will appear in a future print issue of Cancer.
The benefits for women in good marriages held true even after the researchers adjusted for the participants' depression levels, cancer stage, treatment and other factors that could have an influence.
"The quality of the marital relationship may not be the first thing women worry about when they get a cancer diagnosis. But it may have a significant impact on how they cope physically and emotionally," study co-author Hae-Chung Yang, a research associate in psychology at Ohio State University, said in a university news release.
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