Determination of women's awareness of gynecological cancer and breast cancer fatalism perceptions

This study aims to determine the gynecological cancer awareness levels and breast cancer fatalism perceptions of women aged 30-64 years. It was a descriptive study conducted from October 2023 to June 2024 in Şanlıurfa Eyyübiye Harrankapı Family Health Centre District No. 25. The study sample consisted of 333 women. A personal information form, a Gynecological Cancers Awareness Scale, and a Breast Cancer Fatalism Scale were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, t-tests in independent groups, the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis analysis were used to analyze the data. Permission was obtained from the relevant institutions, Harran University Clinical Research Ethics Committee, and the participants for the study. The average GCAS total score of the women participating in the study was 146.02±21.70, and the mean total score of the Breast Cancer Fatalism Scale was 7.40±2.61. A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the Gynecologic Cancers Awareness Scale according to women's educational status (KW=10.079; p=0.018), income status (KW=6.966; p=0.031), and social security (t=3.417; p=0.001). Furthermore, there was a statistically significant difference between the average GCAS total scores according to gynecological disease status (t=3.056, p=0.003), gynecological examination status (t=6.291, p=0.001), hearing about gynecological cancers (t=5.655, p=0.000), knowing the symptoms of gynecological cancer (U=1683.000, p=0. 000), knowing the screening tests for gynecologic cancers (t=5.676, p=0.000), and having pap smear test (t=5.281, p=0.000). The difference between the total mean scores of the breast cancer fatalism scale depending on the participants' age (t=-4.934; p=0.000), educational status (KW=35.857; p=0.000), income status (KW=7.653; p=0.022), and social security (t=2.686; p=0.007) was found to be significant. Consequently, it can be said that women have low awareness levels of gynecologic cancers and high perceptions of breast cancer fatalism. Hence, training should be provided to increase gynecologic cancer awareness levels and decrease breast cancer fatalism perceptions. KEYWORDS: Breast Cancer, Nursing, Fatalism, Awareness, Gynaecological Cancers