Table 2.

Definitions of patients’ reasons for refusing adjuvant chemotherapy

Reasons patients refused adjuvant chemotherapy	Definition
Toxicity concerns	A perceived potential toxicity side effect (e.g. hair loss, excessive nausea and vomiting).
Co-morbidities	A medical condition or chronic disease preceding the onset of cancer and perceived by patient as a barrier to tolerating chemotherapy (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure, kidney or liver failure)
Transportation	Difficulty reaching the treatment facility due to either unavailability of means of transportation or cost of transportation
Age	Patient age was the reason or one of the reasons for refusing chemotherapy (e.g. patient felt they have lived long enough, perceived limited life expectancy)
No social network or support	Lack of social, emotional, or physical support
Other	Reasons stated other than those listed above (e.g. fear of injections)
Unclear	Reason(s) for refusing chemotherapy are vague and not clearly stated