Abstract Introduction Women who undergo reconstruction post mastectomy, report higher satisfaction in breast and sexual wellbeing domains, compared to those who do not undergo reconstruction1. Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) has benefits including fewer operations, reduced cost and reduced psychological distress2. It has been suggested in the literature that racial disparities exist in reconstruction rates, and contributing factors include medical mistrust, healthy literacy levels and comorbidity burden3. The relationship between ethnicity and reconstruction rates has not been assessed. Our aim was to assess whether ethnicity impacted decision regarding reconstruction. Method Patient records were collected retrospectively from 2022-2024, for all patients undergoing mastectomy at a London based district general hospital. Details including age, ethnicity, BMI and comorbidities were extracted. Peri-operative clinic letters and discussions surrounding IBR were reviewed. Data was tabulated and analysed. Results 135 women underwent mastectomy, 59 were considered suitable for IBR. Of those, 24 accepted IBR – 13 (54.2%) were White British/ White other, 9 (37.5%) were British Asian/ Asian) and 2 (8.3%) were Black British/ Black. Of those who declined, 18 (51.4%) were White British/ White other, 15 (42.9%) were British Asian/ Asian) and 2 (5.7%) were Black British/ Black. Conclusion Black or black British women had the highest acceptance rate (50%) but were the smallest group. White British/ White (other background) and Asian/ British Asian women had similar acceptance rates (41.9% vs. 37.5% p=0.787), suggesting no large ethnic disparities in decision-making.
Stoner et al. (Fri,) studied this question.