Knowledge About Breast Cancer and Mammography in Breast Cancer Screening Among Women Awaiting Mammography

The purpose of this study was to evaluate knowledge about breast cancer and mammography in breast cancer screeningamong women awaiting mammographic examination. A cross-sectional survey was carried out of 298 women with an age range of29-79 years through interview before mammographic examination. The questionnaire was designed specifically for this study, anda total of 100 points was given for all correct answers. WomenÕs perception of susceptibility to breast cancer, severity of the disease,barriers to breast cancer screening, and perceived benefits of mammography were determined. Their knowledge about the riskfactors of breast cancer and self-examination were also assessed. The most striking points in this study were that 95.3% ofrespondents knew that women should have had periodic mammographic evaluations and 87.6% of them were aware of the factthat mammography could show early occult cancer. However, 47% had never had a mammography screening test. When scoringwas done for each correct answer, the mean score was 62.39 ± 14.36. The majority of respondents (71.1%) declared that theypracticed breast self-examination and their scores were significantly higher (P = 0.014) than those who did not. Despiteexpectations, knowledge about breast cancer and mammography screening was not low in the study population, althoughparticipation in mammographic screening tests was less than optimal