4.5 Article

Breast cancer worry in higher-risk women offered preventive therapy: a UK multicentre prospective study

Journal

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH AND TREATMENT
Volume 188, Issue 3, Pages 703-712

Publisher

SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10549-021-06183-x

Keywords

Preventive therapy; Chemoprevention; Decision-making; Cancer worry

Categories

Funding

  1. Cancer Research UK [C42785/A17965]
  2. Yorkshire Cancer Research University Academic Fellowship
  3. Economic and Social Research Council

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The study found that 39.5% of respondents reported medium breast cancer worry at baseline, and 21.2% reported high worry. Ethnic minority women and women educated below degree level were more likely to report high worry. However, no significant association was observed between worry and uptake rates.
Purpose Women's worry about developing breast cancer may influence their decision to use preventive therapy. However, the direction of this relationship has been questioned. We prospectively investigated the relationship between breast cancer worry and uptake of preventive therapy. The socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with high breast cancer worry were also investigated. Methods Women at increased risk of developing breast cancer were recruited from clinics across England (n = 408). Participants completed a survey on their breast cancer worry, socio-demographic and clinical factors. Uptake of tamoxifen was recorded at 3 months (n = 258 women, 63.2%). Both primary and sensitivity analyses were conducted using different classifications of low, medium and high worry. Results 39.5% of respondents reported medium breast cancer worry at baseline and 21.2% reported high worry. Ethnic minority women were more likely to report high worry than white women (OR = 3.02, 95%CI 1.02, 8.91, p = 0.046). Women educated below degree level were more likely to report high worry than those with higher education (OR = 2.29, 95%CI 1.28, 4.09, p = 0.005). No statistically significant association was observed between worry and uptake. In the primary analysis, fewer respondents with medium worry at baseline initiated tamoxifen (low worry = 15.5%, medium = 13.5%, high = 15.7%). In the sensitivity analysis, participants with medium worry reported the highest uptake of tamoxifen (19.7%). Conclusions No association was observed between worry and uptake, although the relationship was affected by the categorisation of worry. Standardised reporting of the classification of worry is warranted to allow transparent comparisons across cohorts.

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