THE TREATMENT DECISION-MAKING PROCESS - AGE-DIFFERENCES IN A SAMPLE OF WOMEN RECENTLY DIAGNOSED WITH NON RECURRENT, EARLY-STAGE BREAST-CANCER

This research utilizes retrospective, self-report data collected from a nonprobability sample of women recently diagnosed with nonrecurrent, early-stage breast cancer to better understand how the treatment deci sion-making process varies with patient age. Three important areas con text, decision-making style, and influencing factors - are examined us ing bivariate and multivariate analyses. Findings indicate that althou gh patients recalled similar contextual attributes, they reported atti tudes, behavior, and considerations that differed by age. Older women were less likely than their younger counterparts to have desired parti cipation in therapy selection, sought out medical information, or cons idered the possibility of recurrence when making treatment decisions.