Women’s health behaviors and selected determinants in breast cancer prevention / Zachowania zdrowotne kobiet i wybrane ich determinanty w profilaktyce raka piersi

Introduction. Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer in women in Poland. Health behaviors concerning lifestyle and breast self-examination (BSE) constitute a significant element of early prevention.

Aim. To determine the level of the women’s health behaviors and selected determinants in breast cancer prevention.

Material and methods. The study was carried out among 144 female residents of Radom County from March to April, 2014. The diagnostic survey method was applied with an author’s questionnaire compiled for this purpose.

Results. The average level of health behavior was presented by 64.6 % of the women while the low level by 32.6 %. The evaluation of awareness of risk factors and breast cancer prevention revealed that 54.9% of the respondents obtained the maximum score. The lowest result equals 19.3 % whereas the highest one is 88.6%. The total of 53.5 % of the females declared embarrassment on clinical breast examination (CBE).

Conclusions. A higher level of health behaviors is found in the women with higher education and greater knowledge of breast cancer risk factors. The respondents who experience greater embarrassment during clinical breast examination present a lower level of health behaviors