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Effect of Breast Cancer Awareness Training on Screening Beliefs and Behaviour Among Women Living in Rural Areas of
Gökhan İşçi1, Zeliha Yelda Özer1, Burak Mete2
1Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, 01330 Adana, Türkiye.
Background/Objectives:
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of breast cancer awareness training on screening beliefs and behaviour.
Methods:
This single-group pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental study included 286 women living in rural areas. The effectiveness of the educational intervention was evaluated via the Breast Cancer Screening Beliefs Scale (BCSBS). Screening behaviours were assessed using self-reported data collected via a structured questionnaire administered before the intervention.
Results:
The mean age of the participants was 58.3 ± 8.3 years (range 43-69). Post-test results showed a significant increase in the total BCSBS score and all sub-dimensions, including attitudes towards health screenings, breast cancer knowledge and perceptions, and barriers to mammography screening (p < 0.001). The educational intervention had a medium effect on screening beliefs with an effect size (ES) of 0.585, small effects on attitudes towards health screenings (ES = 0.124) and barriers to mammography screening (ES = 0.286), and a large effect on breast cancer knowledge and perceptions (ES = 0.710). Following the educational intervention, the proportion of women with positive screening beliefs increased from 13% to 36% (p < 0.001), positive breast cancer knowledge and perceptions increased from 49% to 69% (p < 0.001), and positive attitudes towards health screenings decreased from 14% to 8% (p = 0.002). Each one-unit increase in breast cancer knowledge and perceptions increased the likelihood of screening by an odds ratio (OR) of 1.02, and each one-unit increase in barriers to mammography screening increased it by an OR of 1.03. Moreover, barriers to mammography screening significantly moderated the relationship between age and breast cancer screening behaviour, strengthening this association.
Conclusions:
The Turkish Ministry of Health's education model for breast cancer awareness appears to positively influence beliefs about breast cancer screening. Updating and diversifying educational content to target specific age groups and rural women may enhance its effectiveness.
