Breast Cancer Screening among a group of socially damaged women in Tehran-Iran

Breast screening have been shown to reduce mortality from cancer. Due to physiological changes, women are naturally more vulnerable than men. Social harms are behaviors that one person does against social norms and values and disrupts his/her function. Prostitution, drug abuse are forms of social harms. Studies have shown that the social damages can affect women s cancer screening practice. This study described the status of breast cancer screening practice among socially damaged women seeking care from drop-in centers in Tehran.. Methods This was a descriptive study. We enrolled 100 Women ,They were socially-vulnerable women seeking care from Tehran’s Center for Improving Social Health, were invited to participate in a face-to-face interview and were included in the current analyses if they were of Persian ancestry able to communicate and comprehend the contents of the questionnaire, and had history of domestic violence.Results Mean age of participants was 34.1 (±7.7) years. Most of them had finished middle school. Mean age at first marriage was 16.5 (±4.1) years. Experiences of violence were reported by 97.3%. 97.3% had a history of drug abuse. 9.34% were done mammography. Mean age at stating mammography was 31.9(±10.1) years. 7 women had a history of breast cancer in their first family but only 2 cases had done mammography.Conclusion Socially damaged women’s health affected by their social problems. Regardless of access to harm reduction services, poor cancer screening practice was documented among this group. Cancer screening programs should be based on needs of target population, and health planners and practitioners need to seriously pay attention to these women s health issues.

Keywords:

Screening , Breast cancer , socially-vulnerable women