Relationships of Fear of Breast Cancer and Fatalism with Screening Behavior in Women Referred to Health Centers of Tabriz in Iran

• Published in: Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP 2016, Vol.17 (9), p.4427-4432
• Main Authors: Ghahramanian, Akram, Rahmani, Azad, Aghazadeh, Ahmad Mirza, Mehr, Lida Emami
• Format: Article
• Language: Korean
• ISSN: 1513-7368; 2476-762X

Background: Fear and fatalism have been proposed as factors affecting breast cancer screening, but the evidence is not strong. This study aimed to determine relationships of fear and fatalism with breast cancer screening behavior among Tabriz women in Iran. Materials and Methods: In a cross- sectional study, 370 women referred to 12 health centers in Tabriz were selected with two-stage cluster sampling and data regarding breast cancer screening, fatalism and fear of breast cancer were collected respectively with a checklist for screening performance, Champions Fear and Pow Fatalism Questionnaires. Data were analyzed by logistic regression with SPSS software version 16. Results: Only 43% and 23% of participants had undergone breast self- examination and clinical breast examination. Among women older than 40 years, 38.2% had mammography history and only 2.7% of them had done it annually. Although fatalism and fear had a stimulating effects on breast cancer screening performance th relationships were not significant (P>0.05). There was a negative significant correlation between fear and fatalism (r= -0.24, p=0.000). On logistic regression analysis, age (OR=1.037, p