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Disclosure and insight of breast cancer diagnosis and mental well‐being: A pilot study among Azerbaijani women

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in developing countries and one of the main causes of decreased quality of life and high level of distress, especially due to body‐debilitating surgeries and adverse effects of chemotherapy. In some cultures, diagnosis of breast cancer has additional burden due to stigma associated with the word “cancer.” Information about having breast cancer may lead to severe negative reactions ranging from acute distress to depression, including risk of suicide. For this reason, health providers avoid disclosure, ie, direct interpersonal communication of the diagnosis to the patient, or delegate disclosure with incomplete or no elucidation of diagnosis. Informed knowledge about diagnosis of cancer is a necessary step for a patient in her ability to fully participate and make informed decisions about treatment. Azerbaijan is a secular Eurasian country, with a predominantly Turkic population that gained its independence in 1991. The cultural disposition underscores importance of privacy and family ties. In recent years, the practice of medicine is increasingly aligned with modern treatments. The country has endorsed the importance of patients' rights legislation. The incidence of breast cancer reported by the State Statistical Committee in 2014 was 32.8 per 100 000 women. The death rate from breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer‐related deaths among women contributing 12% of all female cancer deaths. The mental well‐being of Azerbaijani women undergoing surgical treatment for breast cancer has not been previously assessed. To our knowledge, the relationship between insights, ie, degree of intrapersonal awareness, of cancer diagnosis and mental well‐being has also not been previously studied.