The Influence of Marital Status on Contemporary Patterns of Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction

Abstract Background Marital status is known to influence quality of life, survival, and treatment decision-making after breast cancer diagnosis. We aimed to determine whether relationship status impacts contemporary patterns of immediate breast reconstruction. Methods Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-18 was used to identify females undergoing mastectomy for stage 0-III breast cancer from 1998 to 2014. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the association of relationship status with the likelihood of postmastectomy reconstruction. Patients were grouped by diagnosis year to assess change in the reconstructed population with time. Among younger patients ≤45 years, a generalized logistic model was used to predict reconstruction subtype. Results Among 346,418 patients, reconstruction after mastectomy was more likely to occur in women with relationship support in the form of a marriage or partner [odds ratio (OR) 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.28-1.34; p Conclusion Relationship status may influence decision-making regarding pursuit and type of postmastectomy reconstruction. Consideration of support networks of patients with breast cancer could facilitate tailored preoperative counseling by reconstructive surgeons.