Early Detection Behaviors of Breast Cancer Among Middle-Aged and Older Women Attending a Hospital

Aim: It was aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of women aged 40-69 years about breast cancer and early diagnosis behaviors, and to determine the factors affecting these practices.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 384 women aged 40-69 years who applied the outpatient clinics of Family Medicine, General Surgery and Internal Medicine departments at Samsun Training and Research Hospital between June and September 2019. Data were collected by face-to-face interview method using the data collection form prepared before. Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney U test and Logistic Regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. In statistical analyses, p<0.05 values were considered as statistically significant.Results: 75% of the participants (n=288) knew that breast cancer could be diagnosed at an early stage. 60.9% (n=234) of the participants had mammography at least once in their lifetime, and 41.1% (n=158) had mammography within the last two years. Family physician/family health worker ranked first among the factors affecting the participants' getting mammography. 48.4% (n=186) of the participants previously had clinical breast examination (CBE). The proportion of women who performed breast self-examination (BSE) at least once a month was 22.1% (n=85). Family physician and/or family health worker were the first among the resources for learning how to perform BSE. Education or information about breast cancer and early detection methods from a healthcare professional (OR=2.09; 95% Confidence Interval (CI)= 1.19-3.65), knowledge of breast cancer risk factors and symptoms (OR=1.26; 95% CI= 1.14-1.39) and CBE status (OR=4.97; 95% CI= 2.79-8.84) were associated with getting mammography during the last two years.Conclusion: Despite being within the screening age range for breast cancer, a substantial portion of women refrained from mammography. The participation of women in breast cancer screening can be accelerated with encouragement, training or information by health professionals, mainly family physicians and family health workers.