Does the occurrence of adverse life events in patients with breast cancer lead to a change in illness behaviour?
OBJECTIVE
It was examined whether life-changing events may lead to changes of illness behaviour in women prior to breast cancer diagnosis. We considered the delay in three different aspects: date of breast self-examination, routine visits at the doctor, and finally changes in the length of time intervals between the detection of suspicious breast symptoms and the subsequent verification of diagnoses.


METHODS
The data of 240 patients (age <70 years) with a first manifestation of breast cancer were used for analysis. Life events were assessed by means of a semi-structured interview as proposed by Brown and Harris and classified according to a system proposed by Brugha et al., the List of Threatening Experiences (LTE). All analyses were performed by means of Cox's proportional hazard regression.


RESULTS
Women with stressful events went to the doctor earlier than those without events. The date of breast self-examination remained unchanged after the occurrence of events. Women who had discovered suspicious breast symptoms delayed the subsequent visit at the doctor if they had experienced two serious events within this period. The occurrence of life events may have effects on illness behaviour, but into different directions.


CONCLUSIONS
In the majority of cases, event-related delays were shorter than those reported to aggravate the prognosis of breast cancer.
Geyer
Siegfried
S
Medical Sociology Unit OE 5420, Hannover Medical School, Carl- Neuberg- Strasse 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. geyer.siegfried@mh-hannover.de
Noeres
Dorothee
D
Mollova
Mariya
M
Sassmann
Heike
H
Prochnow
Alexandra
A
Neises
Mechthild
M
D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055809:Illness Behavior; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged