Determinants of primary care physicians’ intention to provide Breast cancer screening services for rural women: a structural equation model based on the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

Abstract Background Breast cancer has been a serious health problem all around the world. Early detection is undoubtedly effective in combating severe public health problems in developing countries. Meanwhile, primary care physicians play an important role in implementation of screening programs. The objective of our study was to evaluate the determinates of the primary care physicians’ intention to provide the Breast cancer screening services ( BCSs ) for rural women.Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 24 towns in Jiangsu. In total, 1,101 primary care physicians entered and completed the study. The data collection tool was developed based on the theory of planned behaviour (i.e., attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) and extended components (i.e., knowledge about breast cancer screening services (BCSs), and past providing-BCSs behavior.Results The results of our study showed that subjective norms (β = 0.352, p < 0.001) had the greatest influence on primary care physicians’ intention to engage in breast cancer screening, followed by attitudes and perceived behavioural control. Both screening knowledge and past screening provision behavior had an indirect effect on behavioural intentions.Conclusions The present study demonstrated that extended TPB appears to be an efficient model in explaining primary care physicians' intention to engage in Breast cancer screening program. Meanwhile, our findings provide a reference for governments, hospitals and policies aiming to increasing primary care physicians’ intention to provide rural women with BCSs.