Health beliefs and breast cancer screening behaviors among female health workers in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate health beliefs and breast cancer screening behaviors in female health workers in Turkey. This descriptive study was conducted in various health centers located in Erzurum, Turkey. The sample consisted of 268 female health workers (physicians, n=51; nurses, n=169; and midwives, n=48). Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire and the Turkish version of Champion's Health Belief Model Scales (CHBMS). The mean age of participants was 31.31 (S.D.=6.89), and 49.9% of them were married. It was found that only 21.9% of the female health workers performed breast self-examination (BSE) regularly, and 12.5% of them had a mammogram. Physicians' health motivation and BSE self-efficacy perceptions were higher than the nurses and midwives. Susceptibility, health motivation to BSE, BSE benefits, BSE self-efficacy perceptions of female health workers who performed BSE were significantly higher than those who did not, and a result indicating that positive health beliefs are effective in stimulating performance of BSE of female health workers. Among the variables related with mammography, only susceptibility perceptions of female health workers who had a mammogram was significantly higher than those who had not had a mammogram.