The Impact of Stress on the Clinical Presentation of Melanoma

Abstract

The impact of major life events on the clinical presentation of melanoma was determined in a retrospective case-control analysis. There was a significantly higher occurrence of divorce or marital separation and a significantly higher occurrence of bankruptcy or unemployment in the 5 years prior to the clinical presentation of 56 melanoma patients relative to an age- and sex-matched control group of 56 general surgical patients (p<0.01). There was also a higher occurrence of death of a spouse or immediate family member, although this difference was not statistically significant