Donnelly Tam Truong, Khater Al-Hareth Al, Al-Bader Salha Bujassoum, Al Kuwari Mohammed Ghaith, Malik Mariam, Al-Meer Nabila, Singh Rajvir, Fung Tak
Faculty of Nursing and Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada E-mail :
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014;15(23):10157-64. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2014.15.23.10157.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the State of Qatar. Due to low participation in breast cancer screening (BCS) activities, women in Qatar are often diagnosed with breast cancer at advanced stages of the disease. Findings indicate that low participation rates in BCS activities are significantly related to women's low level of awareness of breast cancer screening. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the factors that influence Qatari women's awareness of breast cancer and its screening activities: and (2) to find ways to effectively promote breast cancer screening activities among Arabic speaking women in Qatar.
A multicenter, cross-sectional quantitative survey of 1,063 (87.5% response rate) female Qatari citizens and non-Qatari Arabic-speaking residents, 35 years of age or older, was conducted in Qatar from March 2011 to July 2011. Outcome measures included participant awareness levels of the most recent national recommended guidelines of BCS, participation rates in BCS activities, and factors related to awareness of BCS activities.
While most participants (90.7%) were aware of breast cancer, less than half had awareness of BCS practices (28.9% were aware of breast self-examination and 41.8% of clinical breast exams, while 26.4% knew that mammography was recommended by national screening guidelines. Only 7.6% had knowledge of all three BCS activities). Regarding BCS practice, less than one-third practiced BCS appropriately (13.9% of participants performed breast self-examination (BSE) monthly, 31.3% had a clinical breast exam (CBE) once a year or once every two years, and 26.9% of women 40 years of age or older had a mammogram once every year or two years). Awareness of BCS was significantly related to BCS practice, education level, and receipt of information about breast cancer and/or BCS from a variety of sources, particularly doctors and the media.
The low levels of participation rates in BCS among Arab women in this study indicate a strong need to increase awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening in Qatari women. Without this awareness, compliance with the most recent breast cancer screening recommendations in Qatar will remain low. An increased effort to implement mass media and public health campaigns regarding the impact of breast cancer on women's health and the benefits of early detection of breast cancer must be coupled with an enhanced participation of health care providers in delivering this message to Qatar population.
乳腺癌是卡塔尔女性中最常见的癌症。由于乳腺癌筛查（BCS）活动的参与率较低，卡塔尔女性往往在疾病晚期才被诊断出患有乳腺癌。研究结果表明，BCS活动的低参与率与女性对乳腺癌筛查的低认知水平显著相关。本研究的目的是：（1）确定影响卡塔尔女性对乳腺癌及其筛查活动认知的因素；（2）找到有效促进卡塔尔讲阿拉伯语女性乳腺癌筛查活动的方法。
2011年3月至2011年7月在卡塔尔对1063名（应答率87.5%）35岁及以上的卡塔尔女性公民和讲阿拉伯语的非卡塔尔居民进行了多中心横断面定量调查。结果指标包括参与者对最新国家推荐的BCS指南的认知水平、BCS活动的参与率以及与BCS活动认知相关的因素。
虽然大多数参与者（90.7%）知晓乳腺癌，但不到一半的人了解BCS做法（28.9%知晓乳房自我检查，41.8%知晓临床乳房检查，而26.4%知道国家筛查指南推荐乳腺X线摄影。只有7.6%的人了解所有三项BCS活动）。关于BCS做法，不到三分之一的人正确进行了BCS（13.9%的参与者每月进行乳房自我检查（BSE），31.3%的人每年或每两年进行一次临床乳房检查（CBE），40岁及以上女性中有26.9%的人每年或每两年进行一次乳腺X线摄影）。BCS认知与BCS做法、教育水平以及从各种来源，特别是医生和媒体获得的有关乳腺癌和/或BCS的信息显著相关。
本研究中阿拉伯女性BCS的低参与率表明，迫切需要提高卡塔尔女性对乳腺癌筛查重要性的认识。没有这种认识，卡塔尔遵守最新乳腺癌筛查建议的情况仍将很低。必须加大力度开展关于乳腺癌对女性健康的影响以及早期发现乳腺癌的益处的大众媒体和公共卫生运动，同时医疗保健提供者要更多地参与向卡塔尔民众传递这一信息。
