1998 Breast Cancer Core Questionnaire

The Breast Cancer Core Questionnaire (BCCQ), issued in 1998, was a collaborative effort of the US National Action Plan on Breast Cancer (NAPBC), coordinated by the US Public Health Service’s Office on Women’s Health, in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Temple University’s Institute for Survey Research (ISR). In an innovative approach for its time, the BCCQ sought to integrate questions about exposures in diverse domains, spanning from biophysical to medical to social. Its six modules accordingly focused on: (1) Medical and reproductive history, (2) Sociodemographic and cultural factors, (3) Occupational exposures, (4) Environmental Exposures, (5) Personal behaviors and lifestyle, and (6) Diet and Nutrition. Shortly after joining HSPH as an Assistant Professor in 1995, Dr. Krieger led development of the “Sociodemographic and cultural factors” module, working with her then student and now colleague Dr. Jarvis T. Chen; questions from this module continue to be used in contemporary population health research. For more information about the BCCQ, including its genesis and components, see the 1998 article from “The Ribbon” included in the GitHub site.