Information and awareness about breast cancer and screening of women ages 18 and over applying to Aydin Adnan Menderes University Hospital family medicine outpatient clinic

Background and Aim: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in Turkey and in the world. It ranks second in cancer-related deaths after lung cancer. On the other hand, there is the possibility of prevention and early diagnosis of breast cancer. In our country, the Ministry of Health recommends mammography, clinical breast examination and breast self-examination for breast cancer screening. With screening, treatment becomes easier and the patient's life expectancy is prolonged. This research was conducted to determine the knowledge and awareness of women who applied to the Family Medicine outpatient clinic of Aydın Adnan Menderes Hospital. Materials and Method: This descriptive study was conducted with 218 female patients over the age of 18 who applied to the Aydın Adnan Menderes University Hospital Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic. The data were collected using the face-to-face questionnaire method. It is an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study. SPSS 18.0 package program was used to evaluate the data. Descriptive statistical analyses, chi-square test and Fisher exact test were used. Results: 218 women participated in the study and the mean age was 37.0±14.6 years. 61.5% of the participants had knowledge about BSE and 22.0% were performing BSE. Only 3.2% of women stated that they were applying it once a month. While 14.6% of the participants had mammography, this rate was 45.7% for those over the age of 40. It has been observed that the majority of women do not apply any of these methods. A strong association was found between the breast cancer screening knowledge level of the participants and their educational level (p<0.001). A significant relationship was found between having mammography and marital status, occupation, age groups, and region of residence. Conclusion: Among the participants, including those who had knowledge about screening, the behavior of performing BSE and having mammography had a very low rate, and women's knowledge and awareness of breast cancer should be improved by conducting planned trainings on breast cancer, early diagnosis and screening methods. Television and social media should be used to provide information more frequently and thus women should be prevented from obtaining misinformation from the social environment. Key Word: Women, breast cancer, breast self-examination, mammography