Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey

Objective We aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding breast and cervical cancer and screening methods among women living western Turkey. Methods A questionnaire survey was administered to women aged ≥21 years. Data were collected using a 12-item questionnaire measuring women�...

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Main Author: Yasemin Korkut
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-04-01
Series:Journal of International Medical Research
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/0300060519830252
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author Yasemin Korkut
author_facet Yasemin Korkut
author_sort Yasemin Korkut
collection DOAJ
description Objective We aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding breast and cervical cancer and screening methods among women living western Turkey. Methods A questionnaire survey was administered to women aged ≥21 years. Data were collected using a 12-item questionnaire measuring women's knowledge, attitudes, and practice levels, including among participants who were health workers. Results A total 668 women were included in the study. The average age was 37.48 ± 11.85 years. Most women had a primary-level education (43.4%) and most (50.3%) were homemakers; 27.1% of participants were health care workers. The differences in age, education, and occupation among participants were evaluated according to whether participants perform breast self-examination and have undergone Pap testing. The distribution of women according to age group showed that with increased age, the frequency of performing these two behaviors decreased, with women over 55 years old accounting for a significantly higher proportion than other age groups. Conclusions In our study, the level of knowledge and attitudes regarding breast and cervical cancers among women was similar to that in previous studies and was higher than expected, especially among women who were health workers. However, all women had inadequate frequency of performing screening tests.
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spelling doaj.art-c1365aa9fe834a9c8af8ccabcbec828d2022-12-21T23:10:04ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of International Medical Research0300-06051473-23002019-04-014710.1177/0300060519830252Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western TurkeyYasemin KorkutObjective We aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding breast and cervical cancer and screening methods among women living western Turkey. Methods A questionnaire survey was administered to women aged ≥21 years. Data were collected using a 12-item questionnaire measuring women's knowledge, attitudes, and practice levels, including among participants who were health workers. Results A total 668 women were included in the study. The average age was 37.48 ± 11.85 years. Most women had a primary-level education (43.4%) and most (50.3%) were homemakers; 27.1% of participants were health care workers. The differences in age, education, and occupation among participants were evaluated according to whether participants perform breast self-examination and have undergone Pap testing. The distribution of women according to age group showed that with increased age, the frequency of performing these two behaviors decreased, with women over 55 years old accounting for a significantly higher proportion than other age groups. Conclusions In our study, the level of knowledge and attitudes regarding breast and cervical cancers among women was similar to that in previous studies and was higher than expected, especially among women who were health workers. However, all women had inadequate frequency of performing screening tests.https://doi.org/10.1177/0300060519830252
spellingShingle Yasemin Korkut
Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey
Journal of International Medical Research
title Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey
title_full Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey
title_fullStr Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey
title_short Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western Turkey
title_sort assessment of knowledge attitudes and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancer among women in western turkey
url https://doi.org/10.1177/0300060519830252
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