The effect of breast cancer awareness education on the beliefs of rural women about screening

ABSTRACT The Effect of Breast Cancer Awareness Education on the Beliefs of Rural Women About Screening Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of breast cancer awareness training applied to rural women on their beliefs, attitudes and awareness levels regarding breast cancer screening. Materials and Methods: This study was designed as an interventional, self-controlled, quasi-experimental study. The population of the study consisted of 481 women aged 40-69 years living in Feke district of Adana province and the sample consisted of 286 women who agreed to participate in the study. The participants were administered the breast cancer screening beliefs scale and sociodemographic data form face-to-face as a pretest, followed by four short educational videos prepared by the Turkish Ministry of Health. Four weeks later, the same scale was administered again to evaluate the effect of the educational intervention. Results: The mean age of the participants was 58.32±8.27 years, 95.8% were married, 92.3% were housewives, and 96.2% had less than high school education. A significant increase in belief scores was observed after training (from 52.60±13.61 to 59.79±16.29; p < 0.001). A significant improvement was also observed in the "barriers to mammography" subscale (p < 0.001). The greatest increase was observed in the 40-49 age group, single individuals, low income, low education and non-medication users. Conclusion: Breast cancer awareness training had a positive effect on rural women's beliefs about breast cancer screening. The effect of education was particularly pronounced among women with low educational and socioeconomic status. Therefore, to improve the effectiveness of screening programmes, community-based and culturally adapted educational interventions tailored to low literacy levels could be expanded. Keywords: Breast cancer, awareness training, rural women, screening behaviour