The Attitude of Women Visiting Health Centers of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences Toward Breast Cancer

Introduction: Considering changes in the structure of Iran’s population, the preva- lence of cancer is increasing. Increasing social awareness about cancer and screening for cancers are the most cost-effective approaches for breast cancer prevention. Stud- ies show a significantly low rate of regular breast cancer screening behaviors. Giv- en the importance of breast cancer and the decreasing effect of screening methods on the financial burden and disease complications, awareness about their attitude can provide appropriate information for Policy-making about breast cancer screen- ing methods in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the attitude of women over 40 years-old visiting health centers affiliated toward breast cancer screening methods. Methods: This is a descriptive/analytical study performed cross-sectionally in the health centers affiliated with TUMS. Two hundreds fifty-five women from Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex and some health centers that were subsidiaries of the south health centers of TUMS, were enrolled. To collect the required data, we devel- oped a questionnaire based on tools used in similar studies. We used the Chi-square test to investigate the relationship of the attitude score with demographic and socio- economic variables. The statistical analyses were performed in STATA. Results: About 77.6% of the participants agreed that breast cancers detected earlier are almost treatable. About 18.9% of the participants believed that (agree and highly agree) they will not develop breast cancer in the future, and 47.8% had no idea; 68.2% of the participants disagreed with the item “breast cancer is almost incurable even if detected in early stages;” about 22.0% of them believed that they are at higher risks for breast cancer compared to other women, and 61.3% of the participants agreed to visit a physician in case of feeling pain or a mass in the breast Conclusion: The attitude of the Women participating in the study toward breast cancer screening is high; this finding can be used in plans aiming to raise awareness and conduct screening in Iran.