Women with Family History of Breast Cancer: How Much Are They Aware of Their Risk?

Abstract

The aims of this study are to assess knowledge of inheritance characteristics of breast cancer and risk reduction strategies and to determine risk perception and the factors affecting risk perception of women with family history. There is a gap in our understanding of risk perception and knowledge of genetic aspect of breast cancer and risk reduction strategies in women with a family history of breast cancer. The study design is descriptive cross-sectional study. Between January 2015 and 2016 at a training and research hospital in Turkey, 117 women who were the first- and second-degree relatives of breast cancer patients were included in the study. Perceived risk scale, cancer worry chart, and a knowledge assessment form were used to collect data. Of the women, 34.1% were first-degree relatives of a breast cancer patient, and knowledge score was 6.9 ± 2.19 out of 11. Almost half of the women (41.9%) moderately worry about the chances of getting breast cancer, and half of the women (51.3%) ranked their perceived risk as moderate (26-50% out of 100%). There is a significant difference between the perceived risk and educational level, having genetic testing, and a significant relationship between the perceived risk and worry level of women. However, breast cancer screening behavior was not affected by risk perception. The knowledge of women regarding inheritance characteristics of breast cancer and risk reduction strategies was moderate, but still majority of women have moderate or higher level of risk perception and are worried about getting breast cancer. Therefore, interventions should be planned to reduce worry and to increase risk reduction strategies such as screening and other health behaviors in women at risk for breast-ovarian cancer.

Examining the Relationship Between Breast Cancer Fatalism and Fear in Women

“…The Women's Breast Cancer Fear Scale mean score was found to be statistically significantly higher in primary school graduates (p <0.05). Our finding is in line with the literature [27,28].…”

Self-perceived Risk of Breast Cancer and Screening Behaviors of First-degree Female Relatives of Breast Cancer Patients at the Uganda Cancer Institute, Uganda

“…In this study, less than half of the participants perceived themselves to be at risk of breast cancer. This nding is lower than the fty-ve percent reported by Royak-Schaller et al (1995) but close to results from a recent quantitative study by Seven et al (2018) where almost half of the participants moderately worried about the chance of getting breast cancer and another fty percent ranked their risk as moderate (18,25). In a qualitative study by Spector et al (2009), women perceived themselves to be at a heightened risk of breast cancer and nearly one-fth of the respondents considered themselves below average risk (26).…”

“…The risks of developing breast cancer are even higher when they are related to more than one patient (13)(14)(15). Because FDRs are at increased susceptibility to breast cancer, several studies have explored how FDRs understand their risk of breast cancer and how this informs their adoption of risk reduction and health-seeking behaviors (16)(17)(18). Understanding the self-perceived risks and awareness of breast cancer risk factors and symptoms of FDRs of breast cancer patients potentially guides policymakers and healthcare professionals on the design of targeted interventions to promote risk reduction and prompt health-seeking for symptoms of breast cancer among the FDRs of breast cancer patients.…”

Association of ATM and BMI‐1 genetic variation with breast cancer risk in Han Chinese

“…Growing evidence supports a polygenic basis of breast cancer . Family history was well‐known as an attributable risk factor for breast cancer . Dozens of breast cancer‐susceptibility genes have been identified through analysing genome‐scale data of various nationalities and races .…”