Examining the conditions that inhibit participation in breast cancer screening programs: A qualitative study

This study was conducted to determine the conditions that prevent women from participating in screening programs used for early diagnosis of breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. This study is a qualitative study conducted using a phenomenological research design. The individual interview technique was used as the data collection method in the study. The study group consisted of 20 women aged between 40-69 who had no history of breast cancer in their first-degree relatives, had never participated in breast cancer screening programs before, and came to the Etiler Family Health Center in Kırıkkale. The study data were collected through face-to-face interviews conducted using the Sociodemographic Information Form and the Semi-Structured Interview Form. The interviews lasted an average of 17.39 minutes and were recorded with a voice recorder with the permission of the participants. The data were transferred to the MAXQDA Qualitative Data Analysis Program and coding was performed. Three themes were created with the analysis of the collected data: "Perceptions", "Knowledge and Awareness", and "Participation Dynamics and Support Expectations". When the views on the situations that prevent participation in breast cancer screening programs are examined, the most common reason is negligence, followed by belief, process, privacy, lack of information, lack of experience and lack of guidance. It was observed in the research that the participants frequently resort to non-scientific phenomena. The information that the participants have is based on possible myths. Women need to be informed more about breast cancer screening programs and their awareness needs to be increased.