Assessing the Awareness and Perception towards breast reconstruction in breast cancer patients planned for mastectomy- a cross-sectional study

Breastcancer is the most common cancer affecting women. Mastectomy is still the mostcommon surgery performed for the treatment of breast cancer. Breastreconstruction refers to the surgical restoration of the breast followingmastectomy. Reconstruction has a positive impact on breast cancer survivors interms of increasing/restoring their self-esteem, confidence, body image, andsocial acceptance. Despite these advantages, the rate of breast reconstructionvaries widely and is poor in developing countries as compared to the developedworld. There is very little literature looking into the awareness andperspectives regarding breast reconstruction in patients afflicted with breastcancer. At a time when oncoplasty is gaining popularity, we need to get rid ofthe misconceptions associated with breast reconstruction and increase itsawareness. The current study is planned to assess the level of awareness aboutbreast reconstruction and to understand its perception among females withbreast cancer. It is a cross-sectional study that will be conducted over aperiod of 12 months on patients with breast cancer scheduled for mastectomy.The eligible participants will be interviewed face-to-face by asking themquestions from a questionnaire, adapted from published literature on thistopic. This study will help us generate evidence regarding awareness aboutbreast reconstruction, the reasons for the choices, and myths surroundingbreast reconstruction.