Educação em saúde acerca da prevenção do carcinoma mamário: um olhar sobre a terceira idade

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the contribution of educational actions to the secondary prevention of breast cancer in old age. METHODS: Quasi-experimental trial of the before and after type, the research-intervention, exploratory-descriptive with a quantitative approach, occurred in the city of Pereiro - CE, with 18 members of the group "Idade Feliz" ("Happy Age") of the Centro de Referência da Assistência Social (Reference Center for Social Assistance), in 2023. The research took place in two meetings: in the first, participants answered a structured form in three stages, the last being intended for the prior assessment of knowledge on the subject. In the second meeting, an educational intervention aimed at the prevention of breast carcinogenesis with relevance to screening exams was carried out, followed by the reapplication of the third stage of the form to measure post-intervention knowledge. The analysis was carried out through descriptive statistics in the Microsoft Office Excel (2016) program. RESULTS: 63.3% of the participants were between 60 and 70 years old, 66.7% had incomplete elementary education, and only 50% had undergone some type of early detection exam. It was also noted that after the implementation of the educational action, there was a significant advance in the participants' knowledge about the importance of mammography even after performing the clinical breast exam or self-exam. CONCLUSION: Thus, it is evident that health education stands out as a fundamental tool to promote awareness for the elderly to adhere to breast exams.