O'Mahony Mairin, Hegarty Josephine
Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
J Clin Nurs. 2009 Jul;18(14):2020-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02564.x. Epub 2009 Jan 15.
To identify the extent of delay and the factors influencing women in seeking help from a health care professional on self discovery of a breast symptom, in an Irish context.
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women in the developed world. In Ireland, 2700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and over 900 die from it annually. A longer delay in presenting with breast symptoms is associated with a lower rate of survival from breast cancer. However, many women wait for longer than three months before presenting to a health care professional on self discovery of a breast symptom.
A quantitative correlational design was used.
Data were collected using the 'Women's help seeking for breast symptoms' questionnaire. Women were recruited in the breast clinic prior to their visit with the consultant.
A total of 100 women participated, 99 of whom fully completed the questionnaire. Mean age was 40 years. It was found that 72.7% (n = 73) of women visited their GP within one month, 14.1% (n = 14) within one to three months and 10% (n = 12) after three months. Delay time was significantly related to women's knowledge and beliefs and social issues. Conversely, help seeking also correlated to women's knowledge and beliefs about the symptom and the anxiety surrounding the initial symptom discovery period.
Despite breast health promotion campaigns, many women delay for one month or more, in seeking help from a health care professional for self discovered breast symptoms. Prolonged delay has potential to impact on survival from breast cancer. This highlights the need for continued education and breast health promotion for women.
Health care professionals need to be aware of possible reasons for delay in seeking help for self discovered breast symptoms and explore new ways to address these barriers.
在爱尔兰的背景下，确定女性在自我发现乳房症状后向医疗保健专业人员寻求帮助时的延迟程度及影响因素。
乳腺癌是发达国家女性中最常见的恶性肿瘤。在爱尔兰，每年有2700名女性被诊断出患有乳腺癌，超过900人死于该病。出现乳房症状后延迟时间较长与乳腺癌较低的生存率相关。然而，许多女性在自我发现乳房症状后等待三个月以上才去看医疗保健专业人员。
采用定量相关性设计。
使用“女性乳房症状求助”问卷收集数据。女性在乳腺门诊就诊前被招募。
共有100名女性参与，其中99人完整填写了问卷。平均年龄为40岁。结果发现，72.7%（n = 73）的女性在一个月内去看了全科医生，14.1%（n = 14）在一至三个月内去看了，10%（n = 12）在三个月后去看了。延迟时间与女性的知识和信念以及社会问题显著相关。相反，寻求帮助也与女性对症状的知识和信念以及最初症状发现期的焦虑相关。
尽管开展了乳房健康促进活动，但许多女性在自我发现乳房症状后向医疗保健专业人员寻求帮助时仍会延迟一个月或更长时间。长时间的延迟有可能影响乳腺癌的生存率。这凸显了对女性进行持续教育和乳房健康促进的必要性。
医疗保健专业人员需要了解自我发现乳房症状后寻求帮助延迟的可能原因，并探索解决这些障碍的新方法。
