Informatics Publishing Limited

Abstract

Background: Scholars have demonstrated a worldwide increase in the cases of breast cancer among women, yet many women in Kenya have not gone for breast cancer screening. Therefore, there is need to understand the patient related reasons behind the extremely low utilization of mammography as a screening mechanism for breast cancer in Kenya, yet mammography remains the most readily available gold standard imaging tool in the detection of breast cancer.

Goal of the study: To investigate the factors influencing uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening among female patients age 40 years and above at Thika level 5 Hospital. Specifically determine the influence of the female patients’ perception on uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening, determine the influence of the female patients’ knowledge on the uptakeof mammography forbreastcancer screening, and lastly determine the cues to action on utilization of mammography screening among female patients.

Method: Self-administered questionnaires based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model that formed the basis of the study were distributed to 104 randomly selected patients and 75 of them returned the duly filled questionnaires.

Results:  The majority of the respondents (56.0%) had never heard of mammography while 44.0% of the respondents reported on the affirmative. A combined 49.3% of the respondents felt that they were susceptible to breast cancer while only a paltry 9.3% did not feel susceptible. About the possibility of getting breast cancer after undergoing a mammography test, 48 % felt that they were likely to get the disease if they underwent screening. The majority (64%) of the respondents were married at the time of interview. Only 6.7% felt the need to do mammography as recommended while the majority (82.7%) of the respondents did not feel confident to undergo mammography as recommended. The majority (57.3%) strongly agreed that mammography was very painful. A significant number (65.3%) of the respondents perceived that mammography and breast cancer would endanger their relationship significantly while only 13.3% of the respondents disagreed. Findings showed that 61.3% of the respondents believed that mammography would help them find breast lumps. Significant majority of the respondents (72.0%) strongly agreed that mammography was expensive while 14.7% disagreed.

Conclusion: The study revealed that low self-efficacy and perceived barriers plus relative lack of awareness were the main factors hindering the uptake of mammography as a screening tool.

Background: Scholars have demonstrated a worldwide increase in the cases of breast cancer among women, yet many women in Kenya have not gone for breast cancer screening. Therefore, there is need to understand the patient related reasons behind the extremely low utilization of mammography as a screening mechanism for breast cancer in Kenya, yet mammography remains the most readily available gold standard imaging tool in the detection of breast cancer.

Goal of the study: To investigate the factors influencing uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening among female patients age 40 years and above at Thika level 5 Hospital. Specifically determine the influence of the female patients’ perception on uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening, determine the influence of the female patients’ knowledge on the uptakeof mammography forbreastcancer screening, and lastly determine the cues to action on utilization of mammography screening among female patients.

Method: Self-administered questionnaires based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model that formed the basis of the study were distributed to 104 randomly selected patients and 75 of them returned the duly filled questionnaires.

Results:  The majority of the respondents (56.0%) had never heard of mammography while 44.0% of the respondents reported on the affirmative. A combined 49.3% of the respondents felt that they were susceptible to breast cancer while only a paltry 9.3% did not feel susceptible. About the possibility of getting breast cancer after undergoing a mammography test, 48 % felt that they were likely to get the disease if they underwent screening. The majority (64%) of the respondents were married at the time of interview. Only 6.7% felt the need to do mammography as recommended while the majority (82.7%) of the respondents did not feel confident to undergo mammography as recommended. The majority (57.3%) strongly agreed that mammography was very painful. A significant number (65.3%) of the respondents perceived that mammography and breast cancer would endanger their relationship significantly while only 13.3% of the respondents disagreed. Findings showed that 61.3% of the respondents believed that mammography would help them find breast lumps. Significant majority of the respondents (72.0%) strongly agreed that mammography was expensive while 14.7% disagreed.

Conclusion: The study revealed that low self-efficacy and perceived barriers plus relative lack of awareness were the main factors hindering the uptake of mammography as a screening tool.

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