Religious beliefs and delay in breast cancer diagnosis for self-detected breast changes in African-American women.

ABSTRACT

African-American women have a one-third higher death rate from breast cancer. Delay in breast cancer detection is a significant factor in being diagnosed at a later stage. The objective of this research was to examine the relationship between religious beliefs and delay in diagnosis of breast cancer and breast cancer stage for self-detected breast symptoms. Participants ranged in age from 30 to 84 years, with a median age of 54 years. This was a descriptive, correlational study, which utilized an open-ended questionnaire. Statistically significant association was found between Time to Seek Medical Care and Stage of Breast Cancer at p = 0.001, with 67% of the participants (n = 87) presenting with > Stage I breast cancer, and with the mean time to seek medical care at 5.4 months. A statistically significant association was also found related to "did you tell anyone about the breast change"? (i. e., Yes, No, or Only Talked to God). Delay in time to seek medical care was significantly associated with only talking to God about the breast change at (p = 0.02). Telling someone about their breast symptom was also statistically significant at p = 0.01 for reducing delay.