Use of the Health Education Campaign (HEC) in the Field of Breast Cancer Screening in the North of Iran

Aim: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.The Health Education Campaign (HEC) is an important educational strategy for breast cancer screening. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the (HEC) based training on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of women, regarding breast cancer screening methods. Materials & Methods: This was a pre- and post-quasi-experimental study conducted among 200 women over 20 years in Mazandaran Province. A self-made 34-item questionnaire was used to collect the data. A pretest was performed before the educational intervention and a posttest was conducted 12 weeks after the intervention. The data were analyzed by logistic regression, Pearson correlation coefficient, and one way ANOVA, using SPSS 22. Findings: The mean age of the women was 35.16 years. Based on paired t-test, the difference in the mean scores of knowledge and attitudes regarding screening methods in the women was significant (p≤0.0001) before and after the intervention. Also, based on the macnemar test, the difference between the early detection of breast self-examination (BSE) and clinical breast examination (CBE) was significant in the women studied before and after the educational intervention. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, the intervention had been able to change the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of women regarding breast cancer and early detection methods.