To investigate the effects of poor women's breast cancer beliefs on mammography behaviors

Objective: To investigate the effects of poor women's breast cancer beliefs on mammography behaviors. Method: This descriptive study was carried out between December 2016 and April 2017 in the Doğanlar-Mevlana Neighborhood of Bornova, İzmir. The sample of the study consisted of 384 women selected by simple random method. Independent variables of the study; age, education, marital status, social security status, Health Belief Model Scale perceived severity, sensitivity, health motivation, mammography benefit, mammography barrier sub-dimension score and Mammography Sufficiency Scale mean scores, dependent variables; women's regular mammography (mammography every 2 years). Data were evaluated by SPPS 16.0 computer program. In the analysis of data; descriptive statistics, X2 test, significance test of difference between two means and logistic regression analysis were used. Results: While 26.3% of women had regular mammography, the rate of those who did not undergo regular mammography was 73.7%. A statistically significant difference was found between age, education, social security and mammography status of the women participating in the study. There was no statistically significant difference between marital status and mammography. In the logistic regression analysis, it was found that the increase in the level of education increased the mammography rate by 5.12 times. There is a statistically significant difference between women's Health Belief Model Scale sub-scale mean scores (sensitivity, severity, health motivation, benefit, obstacle) and mammography competence scale and mean mammography. The perception of health motivation and the perception of mammography were found to increase the mammography behaviors in women by 0.85 and 0.92 fold, respectively. Conclusion: As a result of this study, it is recommended that nursing interventions should be planned and implemented in order to increase the perception of health motivation and to decrease the perception of mammography. Key Words: Poverty, Early Diagnosis Behavior, Health Belief Model