Knowledge of breast cancer, willingness and barriers to mammography screening among rural women in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is a serious public health threat. Mammography is the most reliable screening method that detectsbreast cancer early, enabling early onset of treatment which improves the prognosis of the disease. Objectives: To determine women’s knowledge of breast cancer, as well as barriers and willingness of women to participate inmammography screening. Methods: Using the cross-sectional survey design, we sampled and studied two rural communities of Enugu State, Nigeria.Two researcher-made questionnaires were used for the study. Frequencies, percentages, chi-square and regression analysis wereemployed in data analysis. Results: Only 11.4 percent of study participants had good knowledge of breast cancer. There were significant differences inknowledge of breast cancer based on level of education (χ2 = 15.670; p =.001), monthly income (χ2 =6.954; p = .021) and everscreened (χ2 =5.242; p =.015). Lack of money (48.0%) and lack of knowledge (30.4%) were the most reported barriers to breastcancer screening. Women that had ever screened were 92.3% less likely willing to be screened than those never screened (aOR:.077, 95%CI .011-.522, p=.009). Conclusion: Health Education should be combined with improving women’s economic status and subsidizing the cost ofscreening to increase breast cancer screening practice. Keywords: Mammography; breast cancer; screening practice; knowledge.