Table 2.
Illness Perception items
| ADHERENT versus NON-ADHERENT | ||
|---|---|---|
| Illness Perceptions | χ2 | p-value |
| The presence of a lump or thickening in the breast | 3.2 | 0.361 |
| Nipple discharge | 4.1 | 0.254 |
| Sudden nipple retraction | 7.0 | 0.072 |
| Change in shape or appearance of the nipple | 7.9 | 0.052 |
| Breast swelling, dimpling, redness or soreness of the skin | 3.6 | 0.305 |
| Skin changes of the breast | 4.7 | 0.193 |
| A sudden change in breast size | 1.5 | 0.682 |
| Aching breasts | 6.2 | 0.185 |
| Stress or worry | 2.8 | 0.250 |
| Your mental attitude (e.g. thinking about life negatively) | 12.0 | 0.008* |
| Family problems or worries | 6.7 | 0.035* |
| Overwork | 7.5 | 0.057 |
| Your emotional state (e.g. feeling down, lonely, anxious, empty) | 22.0 | 0.000* |
| Your personality | 12.3 | 0.006* |
| Hereditary - it runs in the family | 3.2 | 0.360 |
| Diet or eating habits | 1.9 | 0.590 |
| Poor medical care in the past | 1.4 | 0.699 |
| Your own behaviour | 3.8 | 0.282 |
| Ageing | 0.8 | 0.663 |
| Smoking | 0.5 | 0.927 |
| Alcohol | 0.0 | 0.979 |
| A germ or virus | 2.9 | 0.234 |
| Pollution in the environment | 2.8 | 0.428 |
| Altered immunity | 0.4 | 0.933 |
| Chance or bad luck | 1.0 | 0.908 |
| Accident or injury | 1.2 | 0.875 |
| Breast cancer will last a short time | 0.6 | 0.904 |
| Breast cancer is likely to be permanent rather than temporary | 4.8 | 0.089 |
| A patient with breast cancer goes through cycles in which her illness gets better and worse | 1.6 | 0.800 |
| Breast cancer has major consequences on a patient’s life | 2.1 | 0.559 |
| Breast cancer will not have much effect on your life | 2.4 | 0.662 |
| Breast cancer would strongly affect the way others see you | 4.4 | 0.351 |
| Breast cancer has serious economic and financial consequences | 0.8 | 0.840 |
| Breast cancer would strongly affect the way you see yourself as a person | 2.7 | 0.446 |
| Breast cancer would threaten a relationship with your husband or partner | 3.6 | 0.461 |
| If you had breast cancer, your whole life would change | 0.6 | 0.902 |
| If you developed breast cancer, the chances of living a long life would decrease | 0.8 | 0.844 |
| There is a lot which you can do to control the symptoms if Breast Cancer occurs | 1.3 | 0.869 |
| The course of Breast Cancer will depend on your actions | 1.7 | 0.646 |
| Your actions will have an effect on the outcome of Breast Cancer | 1.1 | 0.787 |
| There is no treatment that will help to improve Breast Cancer | 4.0 | 0.406 |
| The treatment provided will be effective in controlling or curing Breast Cancer | 0.5 | 0.926 |
| The negative effects of Breast Cancer can be prevented or avoided by the treatment given | 1.0 | 0.914 |
| You have a clear picture and understanding of Breast Cancer | 2.6 | 0.455 |
| Breast Cancer is a mystery to you | 1.7 | 0.786 |
| You get anxious when you think about Breast Cancer | 8.1 | 0.044* |
| Breast Cancer makes you feel afraid | 0.7 | 0.875 |
| You get worried when you think about Breast Cancer | 0.7 | 0.871 |
*Significant at α = 0.05
Chi-square test was applied for all health beliefs; hence the categorical answers were used to apply this test for association. For each question, respondents were asked to select a number between 1to 5, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. For certain items, responses were re-grouped to ensure the feasibility of the Chi-square test