Awareness of Breast and Cervical Cancer among Women in the Informal Sector in Nigeria.

Background Breast and cervical cancers are the most prevalent cancers among women in Namibia, with a prevalence of 28.9% and 18.3%, respectively, in 2020. However, the knowledge and attitudes of Namibian women toward breast and cervical cancers are not documented, as this is essential for early detection and improved treatment outcomes. Aim This study explored the knowledge and attitudes regarding these cancers among women aged 18 and above in Windhoek, Khomas Region. Methods A mixed‐methods cross‐sectional random sampling study was conducted from November 2024 to March 2025 across all eight constituencies of Windhoek. A questionnaire was used to document demographic information, knowledge, and awareness of breast and cervical cancer, cancer screening habits, and barriers to screening. Multivariable logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results A total of 232 females participated in the study, of which 93.5% and 95.3% reported having heard of breast and cervical cancer, respectively. Among those who were aware, 35.3% underwent breast cancer screening, while 34.5% had been screened for cervical cancer. Knowledge regarding the causes, symptoms, and prevention of both cancers was moderate to high. Education level was a significant predictor of awareness and screening behavior. Women with tertiary education (73.7%) were four times more likely to have heard of breast cancer (OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 2.8–5.7; p < 0.001) and twice as likely to have heard of cervical cancer (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.5–2.7; p < 0.001). Conclusion Public awareness campaigns regarding early screening are crucial to improve awareness and knowledge regarding breast and cervical cancers among Namibian women.

Cervical and breast cancer is the most leading cause of death among women globally. Cervical and breast cancer can be cured if detected early. The aim of the study was to compare the knowledge and awareness of cervical and breast cancer among medical and nonmedical students of a private institution in South India. A cross-sectional study was done on 600 female students of a private institution comprising both medical and nonmedical for a period of 6 months. A study was done to assess the awareness and knowledge on cervical and breast cancer by using a standardized questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed with Mann-Whitney test by using GraphPad prism. Out of the 600 female students, there were each of 300 female students in medical and nonmedical. Majority of the student population was seen in 17-19 years: 143 (47.6%) in medical and 206 (68.6%) in nonmedical. A total of 235 (78.3%) medical students have heard of cervical cancer and its screening (164 [54.6%]). Many nonmedical students have never heard of cervical cancer (248 [82.6%]) and its screening (283 [94.3%]). Nearly 61% of the medical students and 1.1% nonmedical have heard of Pap smear. Both medical students (276 [92%]) and nonmedical students (179 [53.2%]) were aware of the breast cancer but have less awareness about the age of occurrence. Awareness on breast self-examination was poor among medical (137 [45.6%]) and nonmedical (19 [5.6%]) students. The P < 0.0001 (<0.05) showed a statistically significant difference between the medical and nonmedical students. Through the findings of our study, we analyzed that the knowledge and awareness of cervical and breast cancer among medical students was better than that of the nonmedical students.

Breast and cervical cancer are the leading causes of cancer death among women worldwide. Given the growing concern, cervical cancer awareness month (CCAM) in January and Breast cancer awareness month (BCAM) in October occur annually as global health observances to raise public awareness. This infodemiology study aimed to assess trends in public online searches for breast cancer and cervical cancer following the annual BCAM and CCAM from 2008 to 2021. Google Trends (GT) was used to investigate online searches for "breast cancer" and "cervical cancer" from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2021. (168 months). A joinpoint regression analysis was used to identify statistically significant weekly percentage changes (WPCs) and monthly percentage changes (MPCs) trends over time. Breast cancer searches increased in October (BCAM) every year, while cervical cancer searches increased in January (CCAM) in 2013, 2019, and 2020. Joinpoint regression analysis revealed a significant negative trend in "breast cancer" searches from 2008 to 2021 (MPC: -0.2%, 95% CI: -0.3 to -0.1) and an upward trend in "cervical cancer" searches from May 2017 to December 2021 (MPC: 0.5%, 95% CI: 0.2 to 0.7). Online searches on "breast cancer" remain consistently high only during BCAM, and "cervical cancer" has increased by 0.5% MPC since May 2017. Our findings can inform online interventions like event-based opportunities (BCAM and CCAM) and Google Ads to raise public awareness of breast and cervical cancer.

One of the leading cause of death in the entire world is cancer. More than 10 millions of people die from cancer every year but with early identification and leading to prompt treatment could relieve people from suffering and death. There are several types of cancer among which 30% are preventable. Mostly women suffer from breast cancer and cervical cancer which are preventable with early diagnosis. This research was conducted to identify the opportunities and barriers in using current screening services for the early detection of cervical and breast cancer among rural women in tertiary care centre in Sitapur, U.P.: The systemic study was planned to perform at the Hind institute of medical sciences Sitapur. At the centre the research was performed through systemic sampling procedure and with the help of academic research and industry professionals. A statistical analysis was conducted to determine the comparison of factors associated with awareness of breast and cervical cancer among study population.: We observed and concluded that breast cancer is more common than cervical cancer in India. The knowledge about cervical cancer is relatively low among women which is revealed in this research.: This study is concluded by stating that the women in this study population have less knowledge about cervical cancer than breast cancer due to lack of education.Therefore, promoting awareness among people about cervical and breast cancer would lead to early identification and diagnosis which would help women with less suffering and cost effective treatment.

In general, refugees have an increased cancer burden because of living in difficult conditions and having low income. Refugee women may have difficulty in accessing healthcare services because of the fear of uncertainty, security concerns, language barriers, cultural differences, and economic problems. For this reason, it is thought that health education given to Syrian refugee women by overcoming the language problem (given in their own language-Arabic) increases the awareness of breast and cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of health education given to refugee women in their own language on the awareness of breast and cervical cancer. This is a randomized controlled trial with one control and one intervention group. The research sample consisted of 60 Syrian women (30 experiments, 30 controls), at least 18years old, married, and literate women who were refugees in Hatay/Turkey. The research data were collected via the questionnaire form developed by the researchers. At the beginning of the study, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of age, education, economic status, gravida, and parity among the women in the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups (p < 0.005). In this study, it was determined that health education given to refugee women in their own language had a significant effect on breast and cervical cancer awareness. The attitudes and motivations are shaped, not only by personal information but also by the cultural changes within the community.

Background:Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer type in Turkey and the rest of the world. Regular mammography screening leads to a significant decrease in breast cancer mortality rates. The aim of this study is to analyze the factors that affect Turkish women’s participation in screening. Methods:This qualitative research design is grounded in a phenomenological approach. Fifteen women were selected using a purposive sampling method and participated in in-depth interviews. Interview data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results:The breast has a special meaning for participants which is heavily associated with feminity. Breast cancer causes fear because of its potential to undermine women’s sense of feminity. Women’s knowledge about the screening services and the mammography procedure is insufficient with only one third of women obtaining information about screening from healthcare workers. Individual and social factors that affect women’s participation in screening are women’s roles in the family, knowledge and awareness of breast cancer and screening, fear of cancer, anxiety about getting a mammogram, need for spouse-family support, and concerns for privacy. Organizational factors that affect participation are accessibility of breast cancer screening services, guidance given by and communication with healthcare professionals. Conclusion:Women should be better informed about breast cancer and screening services by healthcare professionals. Accessibility of mammography screening should be increased by expanding mobile services. National and institutional policies should be implemented to overcome women’s anxiety and socio-cultural barriers to increase participation in screening.

BackgroundMeasuring factors influencing time to presentation is important in developing and evaluating interventions to promote timely cancer diagnosis, yet there is a lack of validated, culturally relevant measurement tools. This study aimed to develop and validate the African Women Awareness of CANcer (AWACAN) tool to measure awareness of breast and cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).MethodsDevelopment of the AWACAN tool followed 4 steps: 1) Item generation based on existing measures and relevant literature. 2) Refinement of items via assessment of content and face validity using cancer experts’ ratings and think aloud interviews with community participants in Uganda and South Africa. 3) Administration of the tool to community participants, university staff and cancer experts for assessment of validity using test-retest reliability (using Intra-Class Correlation (ICC) and adjusted Kappa coefficients), construct validity (comparing expert and community participant responses using t-tests) and internal reliability (using the Kuder-Richarson (KR-20) coefficient). 4) Translation of the final AWACAN tool into isiXhosa and Acholi.ResultsICC scores indicated good test-retest reliability (≥ 0.7) for all breast cancer knowledge domains and cervical cancer risk factor and lay belief domains. Experts had higher knowledge of breast cancer risk factors (p < 0.001), and cervical cancer risk factors (p = 0.003) and symptoms (p = 0.001) than community participants, but similar knowledge of breast cancer symptoms (p = 0.066). Internal reliability for breast cancer risk factors, lay beliefs and symptom and cervical cancer symptom subscales was good with KR-20 values > 0.7, and lower (0.6) for the cervical cancer risk subscale.ConclusionThe final AWACAN tool includes items on socio-demographic details; breast and cervical cancer symptom awareness, risk factor awareness, lay beliefs, anticipated help-seeking behaviour; and barriers to seeking care. The tools showed evidence of content, face, construct and internal validity and test-retrest reliability and are available for use in SSA in three languages.

Decision letter: A modelled evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on breast, bowel, and cervical cancer screening programmes in Australia

Editor's evaluation: A modelled evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on breast, bowel, and cervical cancer screening programmes in Australia

Acceptance of cervical and breast cancer screening and cancer awareness among women in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, India: A cross sectional survey

Cervical cancer and breast cancer are two types of cancer that often occur in women and contribute to a high mortality rate. However, there are still many people who do not know about the early detection of cervical cancer and breast cancer to prevent diseases. This community service aims to make people aware of the dangers of breast and cervical cancer. The subjects of this community service program assistance were women in Arjasa sub-district, Kangean Islands, Sumenep Regency. The method used in community service is Community-based Research (CBR) to develop early detection programs for non-communicable diseases of breast cancer and cervical cancer. Research findings showed 91.1% of respondents did not know about early detection of IVA test. The results of the IVA screening test on 90 respondents, there is one respondent with a definite IVA pre-cancerous lesion. SRIKANDI (Sadar Kanker Sejak Dini) Cadre was formed to increase public awareness. Srikandi's cadre provisioned with knowledge about cervical and breast cancer, equipped with pocketbooks and given training on breast self-examination (BSE). They invited the public to increase awareness of cervical and breast cancer by conducting IVA tests and being able to do breast self-examinations to reduce the incidence of cervical and breast cancer.

Despite a high number of cases, the awareness of breast and cervical cancer in Haiti and other low and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains relatively unknown. The objective of the research was to understand perceptions and attitudes towards breast and cervical cancer in Haiti through community-engaged research. We report Haitians perceptions of breast and cervical cancer symptoms, diagnosis, complications, treatment, community support and access to medical services. Five non-governmental Haitian organisations performed a large survey across the country of Haiti in 2015. The survey and focus groups addressed demographics, reported knowledge of women's cancer, infrastructural issues and barriers to care, communication and media channels. The mixed quantitative and qualitative surveys with open- and closed-ended questions were administered to 414 participants aged 13-65 (75% of whom were women). A separate, smaller survey on community support and gender-based violence was conducted in 50 breast cancer patients and survivors as well. The quantitative data indicate low levels of knowledge about cancer across all geographic regions of the country amongst men and women. After coding participants' qualitative responses as "accurate" or "not accurate", we determined the percentage of accurate responses related to knowledge. Data are reported broken down by geographic region, education, economic status and sex. Approximately one in five respondents reported knowing how a woman contracts breast or cervical cancer. Only 30% reported to know complications of breast cancer and 22% the complications of cervical cancer. When asked if they knew where to get a test for breast cancer, 20% said yes and 33% said they knew where to get a test for cervical cancer. The wealthiest and best educated generally had the most knowledge, but the poorest consistently had the second best. Forty percent of cancer patients reported to be victims of on-going gender-based violence. Further investigation should be undertaken examining the role of gender-based violence and to address the knowledge of the working poor.

90 Use of the Health Belief Model in screening methods for colorectal cancer

The importance of screening or repeat screening for cervical and breast cancer is well known to decrease the chance of death from cancer. Few data is avaliable regarding factors associated with participation in cervical and breast cancer screening and repeat screening examinations. This study was to investigate the associations of demographic factors, health status and cancer risk recognition, attitude to cancer screening, health behaviors, and inhibiting or facilitating factors to cervical and breast cancer screening with participation in the screening tests. Data was collected with self-administrated questionnaires from 342 women, aged 40 to 69 years. The cancer screenings were classified into have had or never groups and repeat or not repeated groups. In the case of cervical and breast cancer screening, the have had group was 90 (26.3%), and 82 (24.0%) and the repeat group was 17 (5.0%), and 13 (3.8%) respectively. According to logistic regression analysis, age ( : OR=3.25, 95% CI=1.27-8.26), breast cancer screening (Do vs Don't : OR=14.49, 95% CI=7.46-27.78) and other person's cancer (Yes vs No : OR=4.27, 95% CI=1.01-18.05) were statistically significantly associated with participation in screening for cervical cancer. Regular exercise (Do vs Don't : OR=2.76, 95% CI=1.30-5.88) and cervical cancer screening (Do vs Don't : OR=13.70, 95% CI=7.09-26.32) were statistically significantly related to participation in screening for breast cancer.

C72: Changing patterns of socioeconomic inequalities in women cancer screening in South Korea with ten years follow-up of nationwide cross-sectional study