Does Embarrassment Contribute to Delay in Seeking Medical Care for Breast Cancer? A Review

Background: Embarrassment and shame of visiting a doctor for a breastdisease are among psychosocial factors that potentially contribute to delay inseeking medical advice. The purpose of this study is to review the publishedliterature to determine if embarrassment regarding breast examination, diagnosisand treatment is associated with patient delay.Methods: We searched PubMed with the following key terms: patientacceptance of health care (MeSH), breast neoplasms/psychology (MeSH), shame(MeSH), embarrassment, delayed diagnosis, to find relevant literature publishedbeforeAugust 2015.Results: The studies that explicitly assessed the association betweenembarrassment and delay for seeking medical advice for breast cancer were verylimited. Among these studies, only 2 were quantitative studies, 4 were based onqualitative research and 4 were reviews. Other studies assessed attitudes inpopulation-based surveys or included patients (females and males) suffering fromdifferent types of cancer.Conclusions:Women should be educated that diseases of the breast need to becared for as health issues in other parts of the body. They should be informed thatembarrassment in this regard is not related to grace and integrity but can bepotentially life-threatening. Further research is necessary to quantify theassociation of embarrassment or shame with delay in seeking diagnosis andtreatment of breast cancer. More research can elucidate the ways that the negativeimpact of shame/embarrassment can be minimized in different ethnic groups.

Does Embarrassment Contribute to Delay in Seeking Medical Care for Breast Cancer? A Review Keywords:

Shame , health care , patient delay , breast cancer , embarrassment