In a study of women with breast cancer, Kaiser Permanente researchers and others examined characteristics of women who refused recommended follow-up testing after a positive breast cancer screening test, or a visit to a medical provider for breast cancer symptoms.
Those refusing were more likely to be 75 or older and have six or more children. The study appears in the Nov. 8, 2005 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
"What is surprising is that these women who declined the recommended follow-up procedures were getting regular medical care and had a number of clinical visits prior to cancer diagnosis," says lead researcher Sheila Weinmann, PhD, with Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore.
"Results of this study showed that refusal was not associated with socioeconomic status or race," says Joyce Gilbert, MPH, formerly a researcher with Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Hawaii. Gilbert, now with Kaiser Permanente's Care Management Institute, says that, "the nature of refusal is not yet fully understood."