Breast awareness among black women in East London 2013-2015

Dembinsky, Melanie (2020). Breast awareness among black women in East London 2013-2015. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-851845

Black women in London have in the past tended to be diagnosed with more advanced breast cancer at an earlier age than their white counterparts. A 7 minute DVD was developed to improve awareness of breast cancer among young black women in East London. The study, a fully randomized control trial evaluation, was divided into pilot and main study. Five local GP surgeries acted as intervention sites and distributed the DVD to registered patients who fit the study criteria; another five acted as control practices. The main aims of the study were to raise awareness of breast cancer within London’s black communities and to evaluate the DVDs impact on breast consultations and referrals. Quantitative methods were used to analyse shifts in consultation and referrals rates at six month intervals. Additionally, qualitative methods (focus groups with patients from the target population and interviews with practice nurses and GPs) to access the DVDs acceptability and communicative function.

Data description (abstract)

Researchers at Homerton Hospital noticed that while black women are less likely to develop breast cancer than their white counterparts, when they are diagnosed with breast cancer it tends to be at a younger age, typically before the age of entry into the NHS Breast Screening Programme. Black women also tend to be diagnosed with the more severe and aggressive types of breast cancer. Evidence suggests for various social and cultural reasons Black women are less breast aware and less likely to seek help from medical professionals. In response to these issues Homerton Hospital commissioned a six-minute information film . There is a clear need to evaluate the effectiveness of the DVD in raising awareness of breast cancer, encouraging early presentation and thereby promoting improvements in the detection of and prognosis for breast cancer in black patients. This study consists of 2 phases, a pilot and a main study one. In the first stage of the project, we piloted the distribution of the DVD amongst black women aged 25-50 in four GP practices within NHS East London and the City (with two practices recruited to serve as intervention and two practices to serve as a control). A mixture of quantitative (analysis of consultation and referral rates) and qualitative (interviews with practice nurses and patient focus groups) methods were used to evaluate the DVD’s impact. The findings from this study informed the design of a full randomised trial evaluation, presenting the second stage of the project. The same mixed methods approach was used to analyze the data for the main study phase, with 10 GP practices being involved (five as intervention and five as control practices).

Downloads

Altmetric