The effect of poor women's breast cancer fear and fatalism perception on their early detection attitudes

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of breast cancer fear and fatalism on breast self-examination and mammography behaviors in women with low socio-economic status. Method: The study was conducted as descriptive study in poor women aged 20 years and older living in Edirne Uzunköprü Municipality Region between February 2017 and July 2018. A total of 215 women were included in the study with cluster sampling method according to the sample size calculation formula. Data were collected by using Socio-Demographic Characteristics Information Form, Breast Cancer Early Diagnosis Behavior Form, Breast Cancer Fear Scale and Breast Cancer Fatalism Scale. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, chi-square, student's t test and pearson correlation analysis were used in SPSS 20.0 package program. Results: The rate of women performing breast self-examination was 38%, while the rate of mammography was 33%. The majority of the participants (89%) had high levels of breast cancer fear and the mean score of fatalistic perception was 3.6 ± 2.6. There is no statistically significant difference between women's breast cancer fear and fatal perception scores, and breast selfexamination and mammography behaviors. In the correlation analysis, there was no significant relationship between fear of breast cancer and fatalism (p = .22). Conclusion: It was found that poor women had inadequate breast self-examination and mammography. Also the women had a high level of fear of breast cancer and low levels of fatalism. Key Words: fear of breast cancer, fatalism, early diagnosis behavior.