Fw: Why Women Delay Reporting Breast Cancer Symptoms

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----- Original Message -----

From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 6:23 PM

Subject: Why Women Delay Reporting Breast Cancer Symptoms

> Thursday January 3 5:22 PM ET

>

> Why Women Delay Reporting Breast Cancer Symptoms

>

> NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who develop symptoms that don't

> match their preconceived notions of breast cancer are more likely to

> delay seeking medical care, a team of British researchers reports.

>

> ``Symptoms which fail to match the expectations of breast cancer may

> contribute to the delay in seeking treatment,'' lead author Caroline

> Burgess, a research psychologist at St. 's Hospital in London,

> and colleagues write. ''This...suggests that the public perception of

> the presenting symptoms of breast cancer may need to be broadened.''

>

> Previous research has found that 20% to 30% of women postpone seeking

> treatment after discovering symptoms of breast cancer, even though a

> delay of 3 months or longer has been found to lower survival rates.

> The researchers hoped to investigate reasons why the women stalled in

> order to better design public education campaigns encouraging women to

> see their doctors promptly.

>

> The researchers selected 46 women who had been diagnosed with breast

> cancer. The women fell into one of two groups: they had either sought

> treatment within 2 weeks of detecting some symptom of breast cancer,

> or they had delayed seeking treatment for more than 3 months.

>

> The investigators conducted open-ended discussions with the women

> about the course of their symptom discovery, diagnosis and treatment.

> The findings were published in the December issue of the British

> Journal of General Practice.

>

> Burgess and colleagues found that the women who delayed seeking

> treatment were more likely to have developed ambiguous symptoms they

> did not immediately recognize as potential breast cancer, such as an

> inverted nipple or a puckering of the breast, rather than a well-known

> symptom such as a small pea-sized lump.

>

> Women who delayed seeking treatment were also more likely to be

> reluctant to unnecessarily ``bother'' their doctors and were more

> likely to place their health at a lower premium than other pressing

> job and household needs.

>

> The women who delayed seeking treatment, however, were likely to

> monitor their symptoms and be moved to action when these symptoms

> worsened, the report indicates.

>

> ``This challenges the traditional view that many women who delay

> presentation must be 'in denial' about their situation,'' the authors

> conclude. ``It has been argued, however, that what appears to be

> denial of serious medical problems or non-compliance with treatment

> could be interpreted as the individual's wish to explore other options

> or simply displaying an optimistic or hopeful attitude.''

>

> SOURCE: British Journal of General Practice 2001;51:967-971.

>

>

>