Symptom Disclosure Process Among Iranian Women With Self-discovered Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among Iranian women. Symptom disclosure plays an important role in help-seeking behavior among women with self-discovered breast cancer.

The aim of this study was to explain how symptoms are disclosed by Iranian women.

This study was conducted based on the grounded theory qualitative approach. Twenty-two Iranian women with breast cancer, who discovered the symptoms themselves and were referred to 2 teaching hospitals in Tehran and Qazvin, were included via purposive and theoretical sampling. The data were collected through semistructured interviews and were analyzed based on the Corbin and Strauss approach.

The process of symptom disclosure had 5 stages including identifying the symptoms, evaluating and interpreting the symptoms, weighing the disclosure conditions, selecting the disclosure audience, and disclosing. The perceived threat was identified as the core category. On the basis of the level of threat perception and the seriousness of the symptoms, the 3 patterns of immediate disclosure, delayed disclosure, and nondisclosure were recognized.

Perceived threat is the main motivator for rapid disclosure in Iranian women with potential breast cancer symptoms and leads to a better follow-up of the symptoms. Therefore, increasing women's awareness about breast cancer symptoms, treatments, and non-follow-up consequences leads to a better perception of the threat level.

According to these findings, it is very important to increase Iranian women's awareness about the symptoms of breast cancer (especially the nonspecific ones). For this purpose, it is necessary to design educational interventions.