Perception of Breast Reconstruction among 10,299 Indian Women

Less than 1% of women undergo breast reconstruction after mastectomy in India. To understand if the perception of breast reconstruction among Indian women is a contributing factor, a survey of 10,299 women was done.

10,299 women answered questions from a questionnaire with the help of social workers (10,005) and using the Surveymonkey App (294).

48.8% of women were aware of breast reconstruction. Around 77.5% felt that women would feel depressed after mastectomy, and 76.5% said they would prefer breast reconstruction. Irrespective of age and financial status, most women preferred breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Autologous reconstruction (79.6%) was preferred to implant reconstruction (20.4%). An estimated 71.3% liked the idea of a DIEP flap. When explained that DIEP flap may take 6-8 hours of surgery and cost about US $3500, only 48.8% would go for a DIEP flap. For early breast cancers, women preferred breast conservation surgery (65.7%) to mastectomy and breast reconstruction (34.3%). Women felt that the best way to increase awareness of breast reconstruction would be by social media (47.8%) followed by word of mouth (16.4%), television (13.4%), newspapers (11.7%), and magazines (10.6%).

Although the breast reconstruction rates are very low, women preferred breast reconstruction to mastectomy alone regardless of age and financial status. The surgical teams should devise strategies to assure woman that they can achieve reliable reconstruction at an affordable cost. Increasing experience and reduction of operation time would make autologous breast reconstruction affordable. This strategy could apply to most developing economies.