Benign Breast Disease, Biopsy &amp; Cancer Preventive Self-Care
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The rates of benign breast disease indicate that a substantial number of pre- and postmenopausal women have experienced the discovery, biopsy, and diagnosis of benign (i.e., non-cancerous) breast disease -- a sequence of events that our research team refers to collectively as a breast health crisis. The limited psychological research to date supports the idea that these experiences constitute a stressful life event, and for some, a life crisis. Our multidisciplinary research team proposes to conduct a longitudinal study of psychological and behavioral processes in breast self-care following biopsy and diagnosis of benign breast disease. The goal of this study is to identify the most important elements of the psychological self-appraisal system that regulates preventive breast self-care, and to describe the dynamic relations among those elements that predict continuity and discontinuity in self-care following an acute threat to breast health. (We define self-care in terms of all three components of cancer preventive behavior: performing breast self-examination, obtaining a mammogram, and having a clinical breast examination.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 There is evidence from previous research that self-care routines may be disrupted in the aftermath of a breast health crisis, although to date there are no published long-term follow-up studies to assess patterns of stability or change following a benign breast diagnosis. In addition, although some types of benign breast disease have been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, many women with a history of benign breast disease do not comply with recommended guidelines for breast self-examination, screening mammography, and clinical breast examinations.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We plan to prospectively monitor breast health knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors in approximately 200 women who have recently undergone investigative medical procedures including breast biopsy, for benign breast disease, as well as a large control sample of approximately 300 women, for the entire duration of the 3-year study period. Data collection will include measures of stress and coping through a breast health crisis: breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes; personal appraisal of susceptibility, breast cancer-related anxiety, and efficacy regarding self-care practices; and interval tracking of breast self-care behaviors. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The significance of this project in terms of the Breast Cancer Research Program's emphasis on early detection is that the occurrence of a benign breast disease may present an opportunity for positive intervention related to subsequent breast self-care, or may, on the other hand, overwhelm a woman's coping resources, leaving her feeling vulnerable, powerless, and unmotivated to adopt or continue preventive self-care. Therefore, the study we propose of psychological and behavioral processes in breast self-care in the presence -- and absence -- of a benign breast disease history can make a valuable contribution to our understanding of important aspects of personal behavior that affect early detection, and through such understanding to help achieve the broader goal of reducing the human and economic costs of breast cancer among all women.