We explored delayed help-seeking behaviour for symptomatic breast cancer among a sample of female patients attending an outpatient breast cancer clinic at a tertiary public hospital in the Western Cape. The objective of the research was to explore the perceived personal and structural barriers to help-seeking among women with breast cancer from this low-resource setting, as this information has not been documented. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 25 breast cancer patients. Patients participated in individual interviews that were audio-recorded and transcribed. We conducted a thematic analysis using both inductive and deductive coding. Participants’ limited knowledge of breast cancer, negative views of the healthcare system, and challenging life experiences, such as marital discord, perceived lack of support, and caring for sick loved ones, contributed to their help-seeking delays. We used a combination of the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory to conceptualize and organize these findings. A general lack of breast cancer knowledge was a major contributing factor to help-seeking delays among participants in the study. This finding was surprising considering that several breast cancer awareness campaigns have been run both nationally in South Africa and internationally. We call attention to the need for accessible breast cancer information at primary healthcare and community levels.

我们在西开普省一家三级公立医院的门诊乳腺癌门诊就诊的女性患者中，探讨了症状性乳腺癌的延迟求助行为。该研究的目的是探索在资源匮乏的情况下乳腺癌患者寻求帮助的个人和结构障碍，因为该信息尚未被记录。目的性抽样用于招募25名乳腺癌患者。患者参加了个人访谈，并进行了录音和转录。我们使用归纳和演绎编码进行了主题分析。参加者对乳腺癌的了解有限，对医疗保健系统的看法不佳，并且在生活经历上遇到挑战，例如婚姻不和，缺乏支持以及对病夫的照顾，导致他们寻求帮助的延迟。我们结合了自我调节常识模型和布朗芬布伦纳的生态系统理论来概念化和组织这些发现。普遍缺乏乳腺癌知识是导致研究参与者延误寻求帮助的主要因素。考虑到南非在全国和国际上都开展了几次乳腺癌宣传运动，这一发现令人惊讶。我们呼吁关注在初级医疗保健和社区一级获取可访问的乳腺癌信息的需求。普遍缺乏乳腺癌知识是导致研究参与者延误寻求帮助的主要因素。考虑到南非在全国和国际上都开展了几次乳腺癌宣传运动，这一发现令人惊讶。我们呼吁关注在初级医疗保健和社区一级获取可访问的乳腺癌信息的需求。普遍缺乏乳腺癌知识是导致研究参与者延误寻求帮助的主要因素。考虑到南非在全国和国际上都开展了几次乳腺癌宣传运动，这一发现令人惊讶。我们呼吁关注在初级医疗保健和社区一级获取可访问的乳腺癌信息的需求。