ABSTRACT
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the major threat to females health in Iraq which can be easily prevented through Breast self-examination (BSE). This study aims to find out the level of awareness and practice of BSE among women and investigates the relation of socio-demographic factors, other comorbid conditions, knowledge, and belief with the BSE practices. This cross-sectional study conducted on 750 women using predesigned questionnaires and two scales, Breast cancer awareness measure (BCAM) and Champion health belief model (CHBM). The findings indicate that 75.2% of women were aware regarding BSE and 49.7% knew that BSE should be done monthly. 31.7% of participants never practiced BSE, 51.8% and 18.0% of participants practiced BSE rarely and regularly respectively. Education, employment status, family history, past breast disorders, knowledge, lactation status, perceived seriousness, health motivation, confidence, perceived benefits and barriers for BSE were significantly associated with the regular practice of BSE. Increase in women’s health motivation and sensitization of women about the benefits of BSE is suggested to increase the adoption and practice of BSE.
ABSTRACT
Background: Low- and middle-income countries require to specify early detection programs and intervention models for breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the performance efficacy of an Iraqi early detection model in terms of cancer detection rate (CDR) and the method of participation in this program. Materials and Methods: Data from June 2007 to August 2016 was collected from the Breast Disease Treatment Center in the Sulaimani province in Iraq. A total of 40,491 women had registered at the center during that period for breast cancer screening, and cancer was detected in 793 women. Results: The CDR of the Iraqi program was 8.2 per 1000 screened women, and that of the mammograms was 42.02 per 1000 mammograms. Women mostly participated in the program by the self-referral method (77.54%). Conclusion: The performance of the Iraqi early detection model was effective with a high CDR, and most women participated by self-referral. This program could, therefore, be effective in low- and middle-income countries