Factors contributing to delayed presentation of symptomatic breast cancer : a qualitative study among women with breast cancer in Yerevan, Armenia

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the most widespread cancer in women globally, regardless of a country’s economic conditions. Evidence suggests that early diagnosis of breast cancer significantly increases the chances for successful treatment and cure. Therefore, early detection of breast cancer symptoms is considered to be an important public health strategy. Certain prevention programs might be effective given a timely diagnosis of BC. However, these strategies are not performing well in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), where women are usually diagnosed with BC in the later stages. According to literature, many factors contribute to delay in the presentation of symptomatic BC among women in LMICs. The proposed study is aimed to identify the malleable factors affecting delays in breast cancer diagnosis which might inform future breast cancer interventions in Armenia. The qualitative investigation is proposed to provide answers to the question: What are the factors that may contribute to delays in diagnosis of symptomatic breast cancer in women from the perspective of patients, their family members and their attending physicians in Armenia? In-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted to address the research question. Women with a breast cancer diagnosis of more than eight weeks and 12 weeks after the onset of the first symptoms, their family members and physicians will participate in the study. The estimated budget of the study is 2,749,400 AMD. The personnel include a project coordinator, two data collectors and one data analysts along with the student investigator. The anticipated duration of research is five months.