Factors Associated with “Survivor Identity” in Men with Breast Cancer |
| |
| Authors: | Kathryn L Dalton Sheila N Garland Peggy Miller Bret Miller Cheri Ambrose Richard J Wassersug |
| |
| Institution: | 1.Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada; (K.L.D.); (S.N.G.);2.Discipline of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1B 3V6, Canada;3.The Male Breast Cancer Coalition, Prairie Village, KS 66208, USA; (P.M.); (B.M.); (C.A.);4.Department of Cellular & Physiological Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada |
| |
| Abstract: | Cancer patients vary in their comfort with the label “survivor”. Here, we explore how comfortable males with breast cancer (BC) are about accepting the label cancer “survivor”. Separate univariate logistic regressions were performed to assess whether time since diagnosis, age, treatment status, and cancer stage were associated with comfort with the “survivor” label. Of the 70 males treated for BC who participated in the study, 58% moderately-to-strongly liked the term “survivor”, 26% were neutral, and 16% moderately-to-strongly disliked the term. Of the factors we explored, only a longer time since diagnosis was significantly associated with the men endorsing a survivor identity (OR = 1.02, p = 0.05). We discuss how our findings compare with literature reports on the comfort with the label “survivor” for women with BC and men with prostate cancer. Unlike males with prostate cancer, males with BC identify as “survivors” in line with women with BC. This suggests that survivor identity is more influenced by disease type and treatments received than with sex/gender identities. |
| |
| Keywords: | male breast cancer cancer survivor cancer identity sex gender survivorship |
|
|
