Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context
Summary: Background: Refugee populations have low levels of cancer awareness, low cancer screening rates, and a high rate of advanced or metastatic cancer at diagnosis. Educational interventions to improve cancer awareness and screening have been successful in other nationality refugee populations...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-08-01
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| Series: | EClinicalMedicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537023002717 |
| _version_ | 1797738948224614400 |
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| author | Mehmet Celal Kizilkaya Sarah Kilic Sevinc Dagistanli Mehmet Fuat Eren Ceren Basaran Nisha Ohri Mutlay Sayan |
| author_facet | Mehmet Celal Kizilkaya Sarah Kilic Sevinc Dagistanli Mehmet Fuat Eren Ceren Basaran Nisha Ohri Mutlay Sayan |
| author_sort | Mehmet Celal Kizilkaya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Background: Refugee populations have low levels of cancer awareness, low cancer screening rates, and a high rate of advanced or metastatic cancer at diagnosis. Educational interventions to improve cancer awareness and screening have been successful in other nationality refugee populations but have never been implemented in Afghan refugee populations. We aimed to estimate the level of breast cancer awareness among Afghan refugee women and test the feasibility of a telehealth breast cancer educational intervention to increase breast cancer awareness in this population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of Afghan refugee women residing in Istanbul, Türkiye who had no personal history of breast cancer and who presented to outpatient primary clinics for care between August 1, 2022, and February 10, 2023 was performed. Participant awareness of breast cancer (BC) was assessed using the validated BC awareness tool, Breast Cancer Awareness Measure (BCAM), during a telehealth encounter. After this baseline assessment, a BC educational intervention was administered to each participant during the telehealth encounter. Six months after the initial assessment and education, a follow-up BCAM was administered via telehealth in order to determine the effectiveness of the education intervention. Findings: One hundred participants were accrued to the study. Median age was 49 years (range: 40–64). All participants had no formal education, were married, and were not employed. Prior to the educational intervention, BC awareness was low; none of the participants were able to identify some common signs/symptoms and risk factors for BC. Prior to the educational intervention, zero participants had ever had a mammogram or seen a physician for a breast-related concern. Six months after the educational intervention, up to 99 percent of participants (99 of 100 participants) were able to correctly identify common signs or symptoms and risk factors for BC. Six months after the educational intervention, all one hundred participants had accepted the offer of a screening mammogram. Interpretation: A telehealth BC education intervention meaningfully increased BC awareness in Afghan refugee women. This increase in BC awareness was associated with a strong increase in completion of BC screening. Further implementation of educational interventions is warranted in order to increase participant awareness and improve screening rates. Funding: Dana Farber Cancer Institute Jay Harris Junior Faculty Research Grant. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:51:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a2eb013404594fa58fdbf69fa0baf7c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-5370 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:51:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | EClinicalMedicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-a2eb013404594fa58fdbf69fa0baf7c42023-08-23T04:33:55ZengElsevierEClinicalMedicine2589-53702023-08-0162102094Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in contextMehmet Celal Kizilkaya0Sarah Kilic1Sevinc Dagistanli2Mehmet Fuat Eren3Ceren Basaran4Nisha Ohri5Mutlay Sayan6Acibadem University Atakent Hospital, Istanbul, TürkiyeTaussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USAUniversity of Health Sciences, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, TürkiyeMarmara University Pendik Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, TürkiyeUniversity of Health Sciences, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, TürkiyeRutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USADana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Corresponding author. Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, ASB1 - L2, Boston, MA, USA.Summary: Background: Refugee populations have low levels of cancer awareness, low cancer screening rates, and a high rate of advanced or metastatic cancer at diagnosis. Educational interventions to improve cancer awareness and screening have been successful in other nationality refugee populations but have never been implemented in Afghan refugee populations. We aimed to estimate the level of breast cancer awareness among Afghan refugee women and test the feasibility of a telehealth breast cancer educational intervention to increase breast cancer awareness in this population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of Afghan refugee women residing in Istanbul, Türkiye who had no personal history of breast cancer and who presented to outpatient primary clinics for care between August 1, 2022, and February 10, 2023 was performed. Participant awareness of breast cancer (BC) was assessed using the validated BC awareness tool, Breast Cancer Awareness Measure (BCAM), during a telehealth encounter. After this baseline assessment, a BC educational intervention was administered to each participant during the telehealth encounter. Six months after the initial assessment and education, a follow-up BCAM was administered via telehealth in order to determine the effectiveness of the education intervention. Findings: One hundred participants were accrued to the study. Median age was 49 years (range: 40–64). All participants had no formal education, were married, and were not employed. Prior to the educational intervention, BC awareness was low; none of the participants were able to identify some common signs/symptoms and risk factors for BC. Prior to the educational intervention, zero participants had ever had a mammogram or seen a physician for a breast-related concern. Six months after the educational intervention, up to 99 percent of participants (99 of 100 participants) were able to correctly identify common signs or symptoms and risk factors for BC. Six months after the educational intervention, all one hundred participants had accepted the offer of a screening mammogram. Interpretation: A telehealth BC education intervention meaningfully increased BC awareness in Afghan refugee women. This increase in BC awareness was associated with a strong increase in completion of BC screening. Further implementation of educational interventions is warranted in order to increase participant awareness and improve screening rates. Funding: Dana Farber Cancer Institute Jay Harris Junior Faculty Research Grant.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537023002717AfghanistanTürkiyeRefugeeGlobal healthBreast cancerCancer awareness |
| spellingShingle | Mehmet Celal Kizilkaya Sarah Kilic Sevinc Dagistanli Mehmet Fuat Eren Ceren Basaran Nisha Ohri Mutlay Sayan Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context EClinicalMedicine Afghanistan Türkiye Refugee Global health Breast cancer Cancer awareness |
| title | Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context |
| title_full | Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context |
| title_short | Effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among Afghan refugee women: a cross-sectional survey and feasibility studyResearch in context |
| title_sort | effectiveness of a telehealth patient education intervention for breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among afghan refugee women a cross sectional survey and feasibility studyresearch in context |
| topic | Afghanistan Türkiye Refugee Global health Breast cancer Cancer awareness |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537023002717 |
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