Study Protocol for Exploring the Health-Seeking Behaviors, of Women with Advanced Breast Cancer in Southwestern Nigeria

Globally, breast cancer is second most common cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. It is the second cause of cancer-related mortality in women in high-resource income regions after lung cancer, and the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women in low and middle-resource income regions. The leading cause of malignancy-related mortality among Nigerian women is breast cancer. In Southwestern Nigeria, women typically present with advanced stages of the illness, making the survival rate very low (48%). The aim of this study was to explore the women’s health-seeking behavior from their perspective. This research was a qualitative study guided by a constructivist naturalistic orientation to knowledge development. The methodological approach adopted for the study was the interpretive description (ID). The study participants were thirty women with advanced stages of breast, defined as stages III and IV. The study setting was a large, tertiary, and referral hospital in Southwestern Nigeria. Data were collected through one-on-one, semi-structured audio-recorded, interviews guided by open-ended questions and from a demographic information form individual participant completed in advance. Data analysis of interview transcripts were inductive. Descriptive statistics were used to illustrate the study participants’ characteristics. Findings revealed the study participants’ health-seeking behaviors and the factors the women believe influence their health-seeking activities. Methodologically, this study advances the use of a qualitative approach to inquiry in seeking to explore and understand the health-seeking behaviors of women with advanced breast cancer in Southwestern Nigeria, a subject on which empirical literature is scarce.

Keywords: Advanced stages of breast cancer, health belief model, interpretive description, health-seeking behavior, women, Southwestern Nigeria, Nigeria,