TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-detection of a breast mass in adolescent females
AU - Hein, Karen
AU - Dell, Ralph
AU - Cohen, Michael I.
N1 - Funding Information:
*Presented in part to the Society for Adolescent Medicine, AnmlaI Research Meeting, Detroit, Michigcm, October 24, 1980. ~-Supported in part by NIH BRSG #RR05-393-19. From the Divisions of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Babies Hospital, Columbia University, New York, NY, and Mon-tefiore Hospital Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Address correspondence to: Karen Hein, M.D. Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Babies Hospital South 1-103, 630 West 168 St. New York, NY 10032. Manuscript accepted 14 February 1982.
PY - 1982/8
Y1 - 1982/8
N2 - The frequency of self-discovered breast masses in adolescent females has not previously been described. The histologic diagnosis rather than the means of detection has been the focus of previous surveys. Seven characteristics of 95 patients admitted from 1968-1979 for the evaluation of a breast mass were delineated. The mean age at hospitalization was 15.9 years (range 12-20). The delay from detection to hospitalization was 7.2 months (range 0.5-72). In 77 cases the mass was detected by the patient; 11 were found during a physician examination, 4 by a family member, and 3 by an unrecorded source. Diagnoses were fibroadenoma (71), abscess (11), cyst (9), lipoma (2), and cystosarcoma phyllodes (2). The median length of the masses was 2.6 cm, width 2.3 cm, with a median mass area (diameter × length) of 6 cm2. When patients were compared for age, delay in hospitalization, means of detection, family history, and mass size, the girls with abscesses were younger and had a shorter time delay before hospitalization. Self-discovery was the means of detection in 77 of 95 (81%). The means of detection is an important factor to consider in weighing the merits of teaching breast self-examination procedures to adolescent females.
AB - The frequency of self-discovered breast masses in adolescent females has not previously been described. The histologic diagnosis rather than the means of detection has been the focus of previous surveys. Seven characteristics of 95 patients admitted from 1968-1979 for the evaluation of a breast mass were delineated. The mean age at hospitalization was 15.9 years (range 12-20). The delay from detection to hospitalization was 7.2 months (range 0.5-72). In 77 cases the mass was detected by the patient; 11 were found during a physician examination, 4 by a family member, and 3 by an unrecorded source. Diagnoses were fibroadenoma (71), abscess (11), cyst (9), lipoma (2), and cystosarcoma phyllodes (2). The median length of the masses was 2.6 cm, width 2.3 cm, with a median mass area (diameter × length) of 6 cm2. When patients were compared for age, delay in hospitalization, means of detection, family history, and mass size, the girls with abscesses were younger and had a shorter time delay before hospitalization. Self-discovery was the means of detection in 77 of 95 (81%). The means of detection is an important factor to consider in weighing the merits of teaching breast self-examination procedures to adolescent females.
KW - Adolescence
KW - Breast self-examination
KW - Tumor
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U2 - 10.1016/S0197-0070(82)80022-3
DO - 10.1016/S0197-0070(82)80022-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 7118680
AN - SCOPUS:0020422405
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 3
SP - 15
EP - 17
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 1
ER -
