Correlation between Hope and Mental Health after Mastectomy in Breast Cancer Survivors

Mastectomy is one of the main treatments for breast cancer that may stimulate a lot of psychological distresses in women’s life. It may affect the level of hope among women. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing correlation between hope and mental health after mastectomy in patients with breast cancer. This is a descriptive-correlational study that one hundred patients with breast cancer after mastectomy referred to Seyed-Al-Shohada hospital of Isfahan in 2013 were selected by the convenient sampling method. Data gathering tool were SCL-25 mental health and Herth Hope Index and data were analyzed by SPSS-17. According to the results, 49% of the subjects had high hope and among the dimensions of the mental health, depressive dimension owned the highest average of score (3.05±1.72). Based on the Spearman correlation coefficient test, there was a direct linear correlation between hope and mental health (p<0.001,ɣs =0.565). Because of positive relationship between hope and mental health; adopting the counseling psychology as the major priority in health centers should be considered by health officials and managers will play a key role to decrease mental health problems in mastectomy survivors.