Fear of Breast Cancer and Health Literacy Levels in Working Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Published in: International journal of caring sciences 2023-05, Vol.16 (2), p.930-938
• Main Authors: Sari, Ebru Sonmez, Semerci, Vahide
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Cronbach's alpha; Cross-sectional studies; Family medical history; Fear & phobias; Female employees; Health education; Health literacy; Independent sample; Kurtosis; Mammography; Personal information; Regression analysis; Sample size; Skewness; Womens health
• ISSN: 1791-5201; 1792-037X

Background: Women having a fear of breast cancer oftentimes do not or only belatedly participate in early detection screening programs. Hence, it is important to investigate the fear of breast cancer, which can be attributed to many factors, in all its aspects. Objective: The purpose of this study was to find out whether Health Literacy levels and certain descriptive characteristics are predictive of the fear of breast cancer among working Turkish women. Methodology: To this end. a cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 147 women working at a university located in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. The collected data were analyzed by Independent Samples Test and One-Way ANOVA. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of fear of breast cancer. Results: As a result, it was seen that working women who participated in this study had a heightened fear of breast cancer, ft was found that being married, having no previous birth history, having no family history of breast cancer, and having a low or high breast cancer risk perception were predictors of fear of breast cancer in women, and that these variables explained women's fear of breast cancer to 21%. Conclusions: ft was observed that working women who participated in this study had a heightened fear of breast cancer. To help women better manage their breast cancer fears, nurses should counsel women on risk factors that can be changed and take steps to ensme women's participation in screening programs.