Breast Cancer Fatalism: The Role of Women's Perceptions of the Health Care System
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2008
Description
Cancer fatalism, which can be understood as the belief that cancer is a death sentence, has been found to be a deterrent to preventive cancer screening participation. This study examines factors associated with breast cancer fatalism among women. We analyzed data from a 2003 survey of women 40 years of age. The survey collected information about respondents' knowledge and attitudes regarding breast health. Analyses compared the characteristics of women who reported and those who did not report a fatalistic attitude. omen with a fatalistic attitude were more likely to be African American, to have a family history of breast cancer, to rate their quality of care as fair or poor, to believe that not much could be done to prevent breast cancer, to believe that breast cancer could not be cured if found early, and to believe that treatment could be worse than the disease.
Citation Information
Hall, Allyson; Khoury, Amal J.; Lopez, Ellen D.S.; Lisovicz, Nedra; Avis-Williams, Amanda; and Mitra, Amal. 2008. Breast Cancer Fatalism: The Role of Women's Perceptions of the Health Care System. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. Vol.19(4). 1321-1335. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.0.0091 PMID: 19029755 ISSN: 1049-2089