Determination of the Breast Cancer Risk Levels and Health Beliefs of Women With and Without Previous Mammography in the Eastern Part of Turkey

Objective: This research was conducted to determine the breast cancer risk levels of women with andwithout previous mammography and their beliefs on breast cancer and mammography.
Methods: The samplefor this descriptive research consisted of women aged 50 years or older who were registered at the FamilyHealth Center in the city center of Erzurum. The research was conducted with a total of 420 women with atleast one mammography (210) and without mammography (210) who presented to the center on Wednesdaysand Thursdays for any reason between 1 January 2010 and 1 January 2011. Research data were collected usingthe personal information “Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Form” accepted and recommended by the TurkishMinistry of Health, and the Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale for Breast Cancer and Screening (CHBMS).Data were evaluated using percentages and means with the t-test.
Results: According to the research data, 89.8%of the women were found to be in the low risk group, 87.6% with and 91.9% without mammography. Whenthe health beliefs of women with and without mammography were compared, it was found that susceptibility,seriouness, motivation, mammography benefit scores were higher among those with mammography (p<0.01).The mammography barrier score average was higher in the group without mammography (p<0.01).
Conclusion:Knowing women’s health beliefs, which have positive and negative effects on participating in mammographyscreening, may increase the rate of mammography uptake among women. Moreover, women with high breastcancer risk may be determined by increasing society’s level of knowledge on breast cancer and risk factors.