A Study of Women's Beliefs toward the Breast Cancer Screening Methods

Introduction: Early detection of breast cancer will have a significant impact on reducing mortality and increasing the womenchr('39')s quality of life. Given the important role of womenchr('39')s beliefs and performance toward educational and encouraging breast cancer screening programs, it is important to first determine their level of knowledge and beliefs. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 312 women referring to Khatam al-Anbiya breast cancer Center of Jahrom city, south Iran, were studied between 2019-2020. Data collection was performed by a validated and reliable questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 21. Results: The findings of this study showed that the mean and standard deviation of womenchr('39')s health belief scores in the field of mammography benefits was 11.91±3.7; 223 (71.47%) people had moderate health beliefs. In the field of breast self-examination benefits were 9.85±2.22; 254 (78.53%) people had moderate health beliefs. in the field of clinical examination benefits score was 6.09±3; 135 (43.27%) had poor health beliefs. People having higher education had a lower feeling of barriers toward the breast self-examination (B = - 0.851, p = 0.03). Also, health workers versus. Housekeeper women had the lowest score about the barriers of the self-examination (B = 0.663 P = 0.016). Conclusion: Although health belief was at a good level in most of the fields studied, the low rate of early detection behaviors indicates that there is a need for the implication of further studies to identify factors that increase the acceptance of breast cancer screening methods and these factors should be taken into account in Brest cancer screening programs.

Keywords:

Health Belief , Screening , Breast Cancer.