Objective To understand the characteristics of perioperative information needs among elderly breast cancer patients. Methods With the use of the Toronto Information Needs Questionnaire for Breast Cancer, information needs of 144 elderly and 118 non-elderly breast cancer patients about to receive surgery were investigated. Results The total score of the elderly patients averaged （201.74±28.83） points, which had no significant difference with that of the non-elderly group (P>0.05）. Apropos of the content of the needs, the elderly patients focused on cancer recurrence signs, wound care, management of therapy-related side effects and tumor metastasis, which belong to the dimension of treatment or disease. Among others, the elderly patients had significantly higher needs scores in wound care, management of therapy-related side effects dimensions than non-elderly counterparts(P<0.05 for all). The former had significantly lower needs scores in lab tests information, and sociopsychological information dimensions, especially in such items as "seeking help or social support", "interpretation of lab tests or other diagnostic tests", " the emergence and development of the disease", " medical terms", etc. Conclusion Elderly patients with breast cancer have a high level of perioperative information needs. They are interested with the information of adjuvant treatment and self-care， while their needs for such professional information as disease emergence，lab tests or other diagnostic tests，etc., are relatively low. It is necessary to adjust the perioperative information support plan according to the characteristics of elderly breast cancer patients′ needs, in order to improve their adaption to the disease and reduce negative psychological emotion during perioperative period.