Patients’ awareness about their own breast cancer characteristics

Table 1 Characteristics of surveyed patients

Characteristic	No.	Percentage (%)
Age at diagnosis, yr
< 50	129	57.08
50-59	66	29.20
60-69	31	13.72
≥ 70	6	2.65
Marriage status
Married	215	95.13
Unmarried or other	8	3.54
Educational attainment
Primary school or below	55	24.34
Junior high school	78	34.51
Senior high school	63	27.88
University or above	31	13.72
Household income
< 50000 Yuan	81	35.84
50000-100000 Yuan	53	23.45
100000-200000 Yuan	68	30.09
≥ 200000 Yuan	20	8.85
Insurance coverage
Yes	196	86.73
No	28	12.39
Tumor stage
0	7	3.10
I	79	34.96
II	83	36.73
III	48	21.24
IV	10	4.42
Tumor grade
Low grade	31	13.72
Middle grade	157	69.47
High grade	36	15.93
Axillary lymph nodes status
Metastasis	92	40.71
No-metastasis	132	58.41
ER
Positive	171	75.66
Negative	54	23.89
No-detection	1	0.44
PR
Positive	155	68.58
Negative	71	31.42
No-detection	0	0.00
HER2
Positive	63	27.88
Negative	154	68.14
No-detection	7	3.10
Chemotherapy
Yes	209	92.48
No	18	7.96
Trastuzumab therapy
Yes	15	6.64
No	210	92.92
Radiotherapy		0.00
Yes	78	34.51
No	148	65.49
Endocrine therapy
Yes	174	76.99
No	52	23.01
Health literacy, mean ± SD	3.36 ± 0.98

ER: Estrogen receptor; PR: Progesterone receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 2 Knowing about their cancer characteristics for surveyed patients

“Knows” characteristic	No.	Percentage (%)
Know stage
No	91	40.27
Yes	131	57.96
Know grade
No	169	74.78
Yes	47	20.80
Know ER status
No	99	43.81
Yes	107	47.35
Know PR status
No	119	52.65
Yes	86	38.05
Know HER2 status
No	122	53.98
Yes	79	34.96

ER: Estrogen receptor; PR: Progesterone receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.

Table 3 Correct knowledge about their cancer characteristics for surveyed patients

Characteristic	No.	Percentage (%)
Correct stage
Don't know or incorrect	140	61.95
Correct	81	35.84
Correct grade
Don't know or incorrect	189	83.63
Correct	23	10.18
Correct ER status
Don't know or incorrect	100	44.25
Correct	105	46.46
Correct PR status
Don't know or incorrect	123	54.42
Correct	80	35.40
Correct HER2 status
Don't know or incorrect	127	56.19
Correct	73	32.30

ER: Estrogen receptor; PR: Progesterone receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.

Table 4 Models for knowing about their cancer characteristics for surveyed patients

	“Knowing” analysis [odds ratio (95% confidence interval)]
	Stage	Grade	ER status	HER2 status
Age at diagnosis, yr
< 50	1	1	1	1
50-59	0.48 (0.26-0.91)	1.56 (0.77-3.14)	0.49 (0.26-0.92)	0.37 (0.19-0.74)
60-69	0.34 (0.15-0.79)	0.32 (0.07-1.43)	0.23 (0.09-0.60)	0.24 (0.08-0.68)
≥ 70	0.45 (0.09-2.35)	1.90 (0.33-10.97)	0.20 (0.02-1.98)	0.24 (0.03-2.19)
Marriage status
Married	1	1	1	1
Unmarried or other	0.68 (0.17-2.79)	1.22 (0.24-6.25)	2.79 (0.55-14.16)	4.79 (0.94-24.39)
Educational attainment
Primary school or below	1	1	1	1
Junior high school	3.36 (1.60-7.05)	5.02 (1.39-18.11)	2.10 (0.96-4.59)	3.05 (1.12-8.29)
Senior high school	5.18 (2.34-11.47)	5.22 (1.43-19.12)	4.07 (1.80-9.21)	8.41 (3.09-22.88)
University or above	7.26 (2.62-20.15)	7.30 (1.82-29.30)	7.41 (2.58-21.29)	17.08 (5.22-55.92)
Insurance coverage
Yes	1	1	1	1
No	2.28 (0.92-5.62)	0.96 (0.36-2.52)	15.25 (3.51-66.21)	1.77 (0.78-4.01)
Health literacy
Average	0.44 (0.31-0.62)	0.57 (0.41-0.79)	0.68 (0.50-0.92)	0.68 (0.50-0.93)

ER: Estrogen receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.

Table 5 Models for correctness of knowing about their cancer characteristics for surveyed patients

	“Correctness” analysis [odds ratio (95% confidence interval)]
	Stage	Grade	ER	HER2
Age at diagnosis, yr
< 50	1	1	1	1
50-59	0.35 (0.18-0.70)	0.81 (0.30-2.23)	0.46 (0.24-0.86)	0.45 (0.23-0.88)
60-69	0.32 (0.12-0.84)	0.31 (0.04-2.47)	0.20 (0.07-0.54)	0.30 (0.10-0.86)
≥ 70	0.55 (0.10-3.13)	3.71 (0.62-22.17)	0.20 (0.02-1.98)	-
Marriage status
Married	1	1	1	1
Unmarried or other	0.53 (0.10-2.69)	1.14 (0.13-9.68)	2.88 (0.56-14.61)	5.46 (1.07-27.79)
Educational attainment
Primary school or below	1	1	1	1
Junior high school	3.83 (1.52-9.65)	2.42 (0.48-12.21)	2.19 (0.99-4.87)	2.59 (0.94-7.09)
Senior high school	4.96 (1.94-12.71)	2.86 (0.57-14.47)	3.91 (1.72-8.90)	7.14 (2.63-19.43)
University or above	10.18 (3.47-29.84)	6.56 (1.26-34.09)	9.73 (3.23-29.36)	12.00 (3.78-38.09)
Insurance coverage
Yes	1	1	1	1
No	2.54 (1.14-5.70)	0.59 (0.13-2.65)	15.80 (3.64-68.62)	1.59 (0.71-3.56)
Health literacy
Average	0.66 (0.49-0.88)	0.51 (0.33-0.79)	0.73 (0.54-0.98)	0.76 (0.56-1.04)

ER: Estrogen receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.