Ahmed, S orcid.org/0000-0003-4212-0388, Jafri, H, Ahmed, WN et al. (3 more authors) (2023) Pakistani healthcare professionals’ perceptions of communication with patients and their relatives about hereditary breast cancer: a qualitative study in a LMIC. Journal of Community Genetics, 14. pp. 287-294. ISSN 1868-310X
Abstract
Pakistan has the highest incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer in Asia, with high numbers of patients diagnosed at a young age suggesting the possibility of an inherited cancer syndrome. Communication of hereditary breast cancer (HBC) risk information with patients could enable earlier detection of the condition in relatives and reduce mortality rates. This study aimed to explore perceptions of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Pakistan about communication with patients and their relatives about HBC. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with eighteen HCPs during March to May 2020 in Lahore. Thematic analysis shows the HCPs were generally supportive of informing patients themselves about HBC, but believed it was the patients’ role to inform their relatives. HCPs also highlighted important barriers to communication with patients about HBC, including (i) patients’ low socioeconomic status and educational attainment; (ii) high prevalence of the social stigma of breast cancer; and (iii) lack of health resources and facilities to provide genetic testing for HBC. In conclusion, HCPs would value the development of interventions to support communication between HCPs and patients. They also highlighted the need for interventions to support intrafamilial communication about HBC. Much research and political support are needed to address patient, social, and systemic-level barriers to facilitate communication about HBC.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Public hospital; Limited resources; Hereditary; Breast cancer; Pakistan; Relatives; Communication |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2023 09:23 |
Last Modified: | 28 Jul 2023 12:06 |
Published Version: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12687-0... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s12687-023-00639-x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:196326 |