The Experience of the
By Catherine White Berheide and Una Bray
Some members of the Skidmore community became alarmed when in the last few years the number of women employees being diagnosed with breast cancer seemed to spike. The Women’s Studies Program convened a group of concerned employees last fall. One decision that group made was to survey the Skidmore community to see if the College was indeed experiencing a rise in the number of breast cancer cases. During the fall of 2002, Kate Berheide and Una Bray developed an on-line questionnaire with the help of other members of the concerned group. We want to single out Deanne Palmer for her special help with technical details of administering an on-line questionnaire and Phyllis Roth for her critical eye in fine-tuning the questions.
One hundred twenty Skidmore employees answered the questionnaire: 10 men and 110 women. Ten of the respondents were part-time employees, 110 were full-time. As
Table I [1] indicates, 12 percent (14 of the 120) reported having breast cancer. All of these cases were women. While it is not unheard of for men to get breast cancer, it is fairly rare, and the Skidmore pattern reflects the national one.
In addition, 12 percent of the respondents living in
The oldest diagnosis occurred in 1993 and the most recent had just happened with the average diagnosis occurring in 1999. This result suggests that the people who chose to respond to our survey were people who had experienced breast cancer in the last ten years. Alternatively, given the ages at which breast cancer is usually diagnosed, those employees who had breast cancer over ten years ago are more likely to be retired now.
Table I also reveals why people became concerned when the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer went from an average of one a year between 1993 and 2000 to three in 2001 and four in 2002. The question these data cannot answer is whether 2001 and 2002 are simply aberrations from the overall trend or whether they mark the beginning of a new trend. We won’t know the answer to that question for several more years and ask that you keep us aware of any new diagnoses. We will hold this information completely confidential.
The respondents ranged in age from the low twenties into the sixties with the average age of about 47. As Table II indicates, the women with breast cancer were older than the average respondent (mean age of 53) with the youngest in her forties and the oldest in her sixties. Skidmore, therefore, mirrors the national pattern: Women’s likelihood of getting breast cancer increases with age. Age is the only potential causal variable explored in our survey that is significantly correlated with the likelihood of having breast cancer.[2]
Not surprisingly given that they tended to be older, the
women with breast cancer started working at Skidmore earlier (on the average in
1986) than did the respondents as a whole (1991). The average date for starting to work at
The average age for the start of menstruation was 13 for the respondents as a whole as well as for the subset of women with breast cancer. The average age for the onset of menopause was 48 for the women as a whole and 49 for the women with breast cancer. According to Table III, Skidmore employees with breast cancer were much more likely to have had menopause chemically or surgically induced, perhaps as a result of the cancer treatment they underwent, than women without breast cancer.[6]
The average age at which the respondents had their first child is 27 while the average age for the women with breast cancer is 30. The correlation between this potential causal variable and having breast cancer [7] does not reach the level of statistical significance, but it comes close.[8] Women who have their first child at an older age seem to be more likely to get breast cancer than those who have their first child at a younger age. On the average, respondents had two children as did the women with breast cancer.
Almost half the women with breast cancer reported that they first detected it themselves, highlighting the importance of monthly breast self-exams (see Table IV). For the other half of the women with breast cancer, a mammogram revealed the problem. In only a handful of cases was the breast cancer uncovered first by a doctor’s exam.
Overall half the Skidmore employees indicate that someone in their family has experienced some form of cancer (not necessarily breast cancer) while almost two thirds of the women with cancer report a family history of cancer. A family history of cancer seems to increase a female Skidmore employee’s likelihood of having breast cancer, but not by a lot; the difference is not statistically significant. Of the eight women with breast cancer who report a family history of cancer, only two (25%) report a family history of breast cancer whereas 19 people in the overall sample of 120 (16%) report a family history of breast cancer (see Table V).
The survey respondents indicated a genuine interest in, and need for, a cancer support group on campus, and we think it behooves the College to respond to that need. Students may need access to a cancer support network on campus just as many of us do.
APPENDIX
Table I: Year of Breast Cancer
Diagnosis among Skidmore Employees
Table II: Breast Cancer by Age
among Skidmore Employees
Table III: Induced Menopause by
Breast Cancer among Skidmore Employees
Table IV: Means by Which Breast
Cancer Was Detected among Skidmore Employees
Table V: Breast Cancer by Family
History of Cancer among Skidmore Employees
