Abstract
Fear of recurrence is a primary concern for breast cancer survivors. While behavior changes may reduce recurrence risk, how perceived recurrence risk affects behavior change is unknown. We assessed perceived recurrence risk (local and distant) and change in nutrition, physical activity, and weight following diagnosis by questionnaire in a population of 267 breast cancer survivors. We used multinomial logistic regression to evaluate associations between perceived recurrence risk and health behavior change. The average participant was age 60 at diagnosis and had Stage I cancer (47.2%). Local or distant recurrence risk was perceived to be >30% by 20.2% and 30.3% of the population, respectively. Women most frequently reported increased physical activity (33.7%), improved nutrition (43.5%), and weight gain (33.0%). Higher local and distant perceived recurrence risk was associated with positive change in physical activity (OR 1.9, p=0.10; OR 1.7, p=0.12, respectively) and nutrition (OR 4.0, p<0.01; OR 2.0, p=0.05), while weight change was unrelated to perceived recurrence risk. Understanding women’s perceived recurrence risk may be useful in counseling them regarding behavior change following breast cancer.
Highlights
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and an estimated 232,670 U.S cases are predicted in 2014 [1]
We found that women with higher perceived local or distant recurrence risk were more likely to make positive change in their nutrition and possibly physical activity following their breast cancer diagnosis
Weight management and increasing physical activity are the strongest predictors for lowering breast cancer recurrence risk, yet in our study even the women with the highest perceived recurrence risk did not make these behavior changes
Summary
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and an estimated 232,670 U.S cases are predicted in 2014 [1]. While women fear a diagnosis of breast cancer, women who are breast cancer survivors fear recurrence. One study showed that 39% of breast cancer survivors named “fear of recurrence” as their primary concern [2], while another found that approximately 40% of women rated their risk of local or distant recurrence as “likely” [3]. Risk of local recurrence following breast conserving therapy At 5-12 years following diagnosis, the risk for recurrence is estimated to be 4.3% per year, with higher risks based on lymph node status and tumor size [8]. For the 2.9 million breast cancer survivors, perceived risk may differ in important ways from actual risk
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
