title: Deciding on breast cancer treatment: a description of decision behavior.
abstract: The purposes of this study were to describe the unaided decision-making process of women facing treatment for early stage breast cancer and to provide the empirical grounding to develop a conceptual framework for more structured research. A convenience sample of 48 women completed an open-ended interview while they were making a decision. A qualitative analysis of these interviews identified five empirical indicators of decision behavior: (a) perceived salience of alternatives, (b) decision conflict, (c) information seeking, (d) risk awareness, and (e) deliberation. The configurations of these indicators discriminated the decision maker into one of three empirically derived groups. In order of complexity, these are termed Deferrer, Delayer, and Deliberator.
authors.affiliation: Division of Acute, Critical and Long-Term Care Programs, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Pierce
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001364:Awareness; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards; D010551:Personality; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013637:Tape Recording