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The purpose of this study was to determine whether fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is associated with greater health care utilization (HCU) in early-stage breast cancer survivors.

Three hundred early-stage breast cancer survivors diagnosed within the past 7 years reported on FCR as well as calls and visits to oncology providers and primary care providers during the preceding 3 months. Participants also reported on use of mental health services and psychotropic medications since diagnosis. Structural equation modeling was used to create a latent FCR factor and evaluate this factor as a predictor of various HCU outcomes controlling for age at diagnosis, years since diagnosis, generalized anxiety, objective risk of recurrence, and number of comorbidities.

FCR predicted more visits to both …