Health Damaged Context: Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening from Viewpoint of Iranian Health Volunteers

Safizade, Hossein; Hafezpour, Sara; Mangolian Shahrbabaki, Parvin

doi:10.22034/APJCP.2018.19.7.1941

Health Damaged Context: Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening from Viewpoint of Iranian Health Volunteers

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

¹ Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

² Student Research Committee, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

³ Nursing Research Center, Department of Medical surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery Razi, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

10.22034/APJCP.2018.19.7.1941

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is common among cancer diseases and the second leading cause of death among women
worldwide. The breast cancer-caused death is directly associated with diagnosis time of the disease. Screening is one of
the major methods for health promotion in human societies. However, many women still refuse to do the periodic
screening. The present study is aimed to analyze the experiences of health volunteers in order to understand the barriers to
breast cancer screening among women at southeast of Iran. Methods: Data collection was performed through focus
groups. Using the purposive sampling method, 24 participants were selected and then were allocated to 6-member
groups. The data were analysed using Lundman and Graneheim qualitative content analysis. Results: The main theme of
“Health Damage Context” was extracted with four main categories, including: family barriers, cultural and social barriers,
personal barriers and organizational barriers. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, there are numerous
barriers to regular breast cancer screening, and for the same reasons, the willingness to screening is sometimes not
satisfactory. Therefore, in case of the women’s referral to health centers, nurses and other health-care professionals
should inform them about the role of different screening methods in early diagnosis and rapid treatment of breast cancer.

Keywords