Background
Awareness about breast cancer may play a crucial role in psychological stress. However, this relationship remains understudied. This study examines the association between breast cancer-related awareness and both posttraumatic growth and perceived stress, reflecting the positive and negative psychological responses in breast cancer patients.
Methods
This cross-sectional study included 596 breast cancer patients from three hospitals. Awareness was assessed through knowledge of breast cancer screening and pathological cancer stage. Positive and negative psychological stress responses was assessed using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The chi-square test and logistic regression analyses were used.
Results
The mean age of the patients was 47.1 years (SD = 9.0) with a range from 19 to 82 years old. 278 (46.6%) reported high posttraumatic growth and 241 (40.4%) reported high perceived stress. Awareness level was significantly associated with both outcomes (PTGI: χ² = 8.14, p < 0.05; PSS: χ² = 9.47, p < 0.001). After adjusting for covariates, patients with low awareness had lower odds of high posttraumatic growth (OR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.26-0.95) and higher odds of high perceived stress (OR = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.19-4.19) compared to those with high awareness.
Conclusion
Lower level of breast cancer-related awareness was associated with higher perceived stress and lower posttraumatic growth. The results suggested that decreased awareness may not protect the patients from negative psychological stress response and improve their positive psychological stress response. These findings highlight the potential benefits of improving patients’ awareness about breast cancer to promote their coping with psychological stress from breast cancer.