Women’s Performance of Breast Cancer Screening (Breast Self-Examination, Clinical Breast Exam and Mammography)

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women in Saudi Arabia. Despite the availability of early detection methods to diagnose breast cancer, a huge number of women are still unaware about these methods. This study was conducted to identify the attitude of women in Medina toward breast cancer screening methods, including breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography. Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional survey has been conducted on 124 women aged from 39 and older, who attended Taibah Medical Center for cancer screening either by doctor’s recommendation, family or friends advice, or by herself. Face to face questionnaire was used to collect data. All data were analyzed by statistical analysis system software. Results: The results showed only 35.5%, 27.4% and 37.8% of participants reported that they practiced BSE, CBE and annual mammography, respectively. Only 27.3% of women practiced BSE once per month, and 8.8% visited doctor annually for CBE. Both educational level (p = 0.004) and family history (p = 0.01) were significantly related to BSE. 57.7% of the participants who had positive family history practiced BSE, and 56.0% of the participants who practiced BSE were highly educated. Lacking awareness about BSE is the most important barrier in not practicing BSE, while not having a breast lump was the reason for not undergoing either clinical breast examination (38.7%) or periodic mammography (54.9%). Conclusion: This study emphasized the need for massive health education program to increase awareness, and improve the attitude of women toward breast cancer screening methods.