Studying Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior of Breast Cancer Screening Methods among Behshahr Dwelling Women

Background and purpose: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among all widespread cancers worldwide. After lung cancer, breast cancer is the main cause of death among women. One of the best ways to detect this disease early is to do screening. This study has been done to analyze the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of women regarding the breast cancer screening methods. Materials & Methods: The study is of cross-sectional descriptive type. The participants were ۵۰۰ Behshahr dwelling women above ۲۰ years old selected based on cluster sampling. The instrument used was a ۳۴-item questionnaire to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of the women. The data has been analyzed through inferential statistical methods. Results: The participants' age mean was ۳۵.۱۶. The average knowledge score of the disease and screening methods was ۱.۳ and ۵۴.۶. The average attitude score of was ۸۲.۵. Regarding behavior, ۱۳.۱ percent do regular self-examination, and ۱۵.۲ percent do regular clinical examination. ۱۶.۷ percent of women have one experience of doing mammography. In the present study, there was a significant relation among knowledge, attitude and behavior. Conclusion: Since the knowledge of women was at average level and the behavior of using the screening methods was weak, planning to enable and motivate women to use the screening methods is highly emphasized.

Keywords:

Knowledge , Attitude , Behavior , Screening , Breast Cancer