Beyond Physical Well-being: Exploring Demographic Variances in Psychosocial Well-being before Breast Reconstruction

Abstract

Background: A patient’s preoperative satisfaction with their breasts and baseline psychosocial, sexual, and physical well-being are important considerations when planning breast reconstruction. We sought to elucidate variances in preoperative responses among patients undergoing postmastectomy breast reconstruction. Methods: Preoperative BREAST-Q responses and demographic data, including race, generation, median household incomeinstitutional review board and body mass index (BMI) were collected from breast cancer patients scheduled for mastectomy. Associations between demographic group and survey response were analyzed by chi-square or independent t-tests. Results: In total, 646 of 826 patients identified had complete data and were included in the final analysis. Patients in BMI group 1 (16–24.9) were more likely to report feeling “very satisfied” with how they looked unclothed compared with patients in other BMI groups (P = 0.031). Conversely, patients in groups 3 and 4 (35+), reported lower satisfaction (P = 0.037) and felt less attractive without clothes (P = 0.034). Asian women were less likely to feel attractive (P = 0.007), and Black patients were less likely to feel of equal worth to other women (P < 0.001). Finally, patients were less likely to report confidence in social settings if they were Black (P < 0.001), Asian (P < 0.001), from the millennial generation (P = 0.017), or living in zip codes with median household income less than $55,000 (P = 0.042). Conclusions: Breast cancer patients’ feelings toward their natural breasts vary widely between demographic groups. Understanding baseline psychosocial factors in this population is key to informing preoperative discussions and interpreting postoperative satisfaction.