Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) has been defined as “fear, worry, or concern about cancer returning or progressing” ( Lebel et al., 2016, p. However, most important is the worry about cancer progression or recurrence ( Simard et al., 2013 Dinkel and Herschbach, 2018). Patients with cancer often worry about illness- and treatment-related aspects, e.g., the side effects of treatment or taking time away from the family ( Pisu et al., 2017). For instance, it is quite common that healthy people worry about developing cancer ( Jensen et al., 2010 Murphy et al., 2018).įor people who suffer from cancer, to worry about future uncertainties represents quite an adequate response as there are many real risks and threats in the disease course. Regarding specific worry topics, people tend to worry about interpersonal relationships, self, work, future events, finances, and mostly health ( Tallis et al., 1992 Golden et al., 2011). Several measures for the assessment of worry were developed, focusing on the experience of daily worry (e.g., Worry Domains Questionnaire, WDQ Tallis et al., 1992) as well as on the phenomenon of excessive pathological worry (e.g., Penn State Worry Questionnaire, PSWQ Meyer et al., 1990). Worry can act as a motivator and buffer ( Sweeny and Dooley, 2017), it can reflect a constructive problem-solving process ( Szabo and Lovibond, 2002), and it can facilitate goal pursuit and threat reduction ( McNeill and Dunlop, 2016). Some researchers have also highlighted the positive functions of worry. Worry has been associated with several negative outcomes, including general anxiety disorder (GAD) as a manifestation of excessive and uncontrollable worry ( Golden et al., 2011 Hirsch et al., 2013). Such excessive and uncontrollable worry, but not non-severe worry, was associated with depression and reduced quality of life ( Golden et al., 2011). Furthermore, 37.1% stated that they worried excessively, and 20.0% experienced excessive uncontrollable worry. (2011) found that 78.7% of the respondents worried during the previous month. In a study with community-dwelling elderly people, Golden et al. To think repetitively about such future uncertainties and dangers is quite common. Many people experience recurrent thoughts about possible risks and threats. Whether a general tendency to worry, in fact, represents an independent vulnerability factor for experiencing FCR/FoP needs to be investigated in a longitudinal research design. These results bring up the question of whether FoP is an expression of a general tendency to worry. The final model explained 74% of the variance.ĭiscussion: Fear of progression is strongly associated with daily worry and pathological worry. Clinical variables were not independently associated with FoP. Further significant determinants were younger age and depressive and anxiety symptoms. The level of FoP was most strongly associated with daily worry ( β = 0.514, p < 0.001), followed by pathological worry ( β = 0.221, p < 0.001). FoP and worry were significantly intercorrelated ( r = 0.58–0.78). Results: Mean age of the participants was M = 58.5 years (SD = 12.8), and 64.6% were men. The hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify factors independently associated with FoP. Furthermore, a structured clinical interview was conducted for the assessment of anxiety disorders. Depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms were measured with modules of the Patient Health Questionnaire. Patients filled out the FoP Questionnaire (FoP-Q), the Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ) for the assessment of daily worry, and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) for the assessment of pathological worry. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that includes 328 hospitalized patients with cancer. This study aimed at investigating the associations among daily worry, pathological worry, and FoP in patients with cancer. However, worry can also become pathological appearing as a symptom of mental disorders. Actually, to worry is a common cognitive process that, in its non-pathological form, belongs to daily life. 2Institute of Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, University Medical Center Mannheim, Mannheim, Germanyīackground: Fear of progression (FoP), or fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), is characterized by worries or concerns about negative illness-related future events.1Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.Andreas Dinkel 1 *, Birgitt Marten-Mittag 1 and Katrin Kremsreiter 1,2
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