Lifestyle choices among women with breast cancer in the United States

Introduction: Breast cancer is a common form of cancer for women. The goal of this research was to estimate how a breast cancer diagnosis affects a woman's decisions about smoking, alcohol use, and exercise. Methods: Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on breast cancer diagnosis and lifestyle choices, we estimated how being diagnosed influences smoking, drinking, and exercising habits for more than 8000 women over the period 1999–2011. Results: Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, persistence in behaviors, and correlation across behaviors, we found that the impact of a diagnosis had a different effect on smoking, drinking, and exercising behaviors. Furthermore, the impact depended upon the recency of the diagnosis. Recently diagnosed women exercised and smoked less—an average woman in our sample reduced exercise by 19% and smoking by 1%. However, women with breast cancer did not change their drinking habits relative to healthy women. Conclusions: A diagnosis of breast cancer impacts lifestyle choices. Women who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the last 5 years exercised and smoked less but did not change their alcohol consumption after a breast cancer diagnosis regardless of when the diagnosis was made. Our approach provides insight into what extent women who are faced with negative information about life expectancy take this into consideration when deciding to engage in risky behaviors that might further affect their survival. Whether to engage in physical activity, drink alcohol, or smoke are choices associated with how to live.