The Relationship of Health Beliefs on the Stage of Mammography Behavior Adoption amongst Women in Kuantan, Pahang

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiography, Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Pahang, Malaysia.

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer (BC) awareness is relatively poor among Malaysian women indicated by the presence
of BC at a late stage and the low rate of mammography screening. Only a few theoretically based studies have been
conducted on Malaysian women’s participation in mammography. Therefore, the objective of this study is to use health
belief model (HBM) and stage of change model (SCM) to determine the relationship between health beliefs on the
behavioral adoption of mammography amongst women in Kuantan, Pahang. Methods: Five hundred and twenty women
were randomly selected to complete the survey. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression (MLR) to
ascertain the multivariate relationships between health beliefs and stage of mammography behavioral adoption. Results:
The MLR test indicates that there is no significant difference in perceived severity, benefits, motivator factors and cues
to action between participants in the action stage and the maintenance stage. However, significant differences existed
in perceived severity, susceptibility, motivator factors and self-efficacy between the pre-contemplation, relapse and
contemplation stage to that of the referenced (maintenance) stage of mammography adoption. Conclusion: Women in
the action stage are more likely to progress towards maintenance stage as they perceived breast cancer as a disease that
leads to death and that mammogram screening is beneficial in detecting the disease at an early stage. However, women
in the pre-contemplation, relapse and contemplation stage are found unlikely to move towards the maintenance stage
as they perceived their risk of getting breast cancer is low.

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