Barriers to Follow-Up of an Abnormal Clinical Breast Examination in Uttar Pradesh, India: A Qualitative Study

To understand key barriers to diagnostic follow-up for women with an abnormal clinical breast examination (CBE) at the primary care level in the Uttar Pradesh state in India. We also explored acceptability of mobile phones to address barriers to CBE follow-up for women.

We conducted 28 semistructured in-depth interviews with 12 women with an abnormal CBE at the primary health facility who did not have diagnostic follow-up, four community health workers, nine health care providers from health facilities in rural and urban settings, and three state-level decision makers. Interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated from Hindi to English. Thematic analysis was conducted using Dedoose qualitative software. Themes were organized by multilevel barriers to follow-up.

Key barriers to CBE follow-up included knowledge, fear, and stigma about breast cancer; women's health not being prioritized in the family; discomfort seeing male providers; and difficulty navigating the diagnostic facility. Despite community education and outreach efforts by community health workers (known as Accredited Social Health Activists), lack of awareness of breast cancer and the importance of follow-up for abnormal CBE remains a barrier to early detection. Despite widespread access to mobile phones, perceived acceptability varied among stakeholders regarding mobile phone use for breast health education and communication with clients.

Knowledge, cultural, and health system barriers challenge women's ability to follow recommendations for diagnostic follow-up of an abnormal CBE. Multilevel and gender-responsive strategies are needed to address these barriers. Our results suggest that mobile phones could be used to further improve breast health awareness, patient navigation, and tracking, and further research is needed.