Breast reconstruction following mastectomy: I. Social characteristics of patients seeking the procedure.

Information is presented from a clinical study of 65 women and a psychometric study of 85 women having breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer. The average woman was in her midforties. Less than a third of the women described themselves as fulltime housewives; most were employed outside the home. Almost all had completed high school and most had received additional education. Most of the women were married when they sought breast reconstruction. The time at which women had had their mastectomies was related to their source of information about breast reconstruction. When more than five years had elapsed between mastectomy and reconstruction, a woman most often had obtained her information from the media. Women with more recent mastectomies, though utilizing the media, obtained their information more frequently from medical sources.