Factors considered by Chinese women when deciding on breast cancer treatment

Abstract

Objective: To explore factors Chinese women considered whendeciding surgical treatment for breast cancer (BC).Method: One hundred and nine Chinese women diagnosed withBC within the past two years were randomly recruited from two regional hospitals. Factors influencing treatment decision-making(TDM) were assessed by a questionnaire developed from an earlierliterature review and qualitative study. Women were asked to ratethe importance of the following five aspects in TDM: concernabout treatment outcome (TC); treatment efficacy (TE); informa-tion seeking (IS); avoiding adjuvant therapy (AA), and; perceptionof doctor’s recommendation (DR).Results: Participants (mean age 48.7 years, SD10.4) gavehighest importance ratings to factors related to DR (13.6, SD1.8,3-15 (88th%ile)), TE (mean score 16.5, SD5.9, 5-20 (77th%ile)),and IS (19.2, SD4.0, 5-25 (76th%ile)). The factors taken intoaccount in TDM by these women did not vary by type of surgerysubsequently chosen. Age correlated negatively with the impor-tance placed on TC (r-38, p.00) and IS (r-.31, p.00).Unmarried women placed greater importance on TC (F5.74,df3, p.001) compared to married, divorced, or widowedwomen. Women with higher education gave greater importanceratings to TC (t-2.86, p.005) and SI (t-3.92, p.000) com-pared to those with lower educational achievement. Stepwise re-gression revealed that younger age (Beta-.31, p.001) and beingsingle (Beta.25, p.007) were more likely to be associated withgreater TC importance, while higher education (Beta.39, p.00)was more likely be associated with greater IS ratings.Conclusion: Women perceive TF, IS, and DR as important inTDM. Younger and unmarried women tend to give more thoughtto TC, as it concerns appearance and sexuality, while women withhigher education are more likely to consider IS as important inTDM. This study provides an empirical basis to guide develop-ment of more focussed TDM interventions.