Catherine McAuley School of Nursing & Midwifery, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork, Ireland.
Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2013 Oct;17(5):632-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2013.03.012. Epub 2013 May 3.
To describe women's help seeking behaviour (HSB) and the associated influencing factors on self-discovery of a breast symptom.
A descriptive, correlational survey design was used. Following ethical approval, survey data were collected from women (n = 449) attending the breast clinics of two large urban hospitals within the Republic of Ireland.
The majority of women (69.9%; n = 314) sought help (by visiting their General practitioner, GP) within one month, 30.1% (n = 135) delayed help seeking for more than one month following symptom discovery and 16.7% (n = 75) delayed for three months or more. The factors most significantly associated with delayed HSB were knowledge around symptom identity (Odds Ratio (OR) = 4.80, p = 0.005); ignoring the symptom and hoping it would go away (OR = 10.72, p < 0.001) and women's belief that the symptom would persist for a long time (OR = 1.18, p = 0.023). Being afraid on symptom discovery (OR = 0.37, p = 0.005) was associated with reduced risk of delayed HSB.
It is encouraging to see that the majority of women who find a breast symptom seek help promptly. However, a small cohort of women delay seeking help from their GP. HSB is influenced by multiple factors which can impact on patient outcomes. Findings are important for oncology nurses who have a key role to play in promoting breast awareness, prompt help seeking and early detection and treatment of breast cancer, amongst women.
描述女性在自我发现乳房症状时的求助行为（HSB）及其相关影响因素。
采用描述性、相关性调查设计。在获得伦理批准后，从爱尔兰共和国两家大型城市医院的乳房诊所收集了 449 名女性的调查数据。
大多数女性（69.9%；n=314）在发现症状后一个月内寻求帮助（去看全科医生，GP），30.1%（n=135）在发现症状后一个月以上才寻求帮助，16.7%（n=75）则延迟了三个月或更长时间。与延迟 HSB 最显著相关的因素是对症状识别的了解（优势比（OR）=4.80，p=0.005）；忽视症状并希望它会消失（OR=10.72，p<0.001）以及女性认为症状会持续很长时间的信念（OR=1.18，p=0.023）。发现症状时感到害怕（OR=0.37，p=0.005）与延迟 HSB 的风险降低有关。
看到大多数发现乳房症状的女性会迅速寻求帮助是令人鼓舞的。然而，仍有一小部分女性会延迟向 GP 寻求帮助。HSB 受到多种因素的影响，这些因素可能会影响患者的结局。这些发现对肿瘤护士非常重要，他们在促进乳房意识、及时寻求帮助以及早期发现和治疗乳腺癌方面发挥着关键作用。
