Department of Economics, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran.
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Department of Health and Management, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Apr 1;23(4):1207-1213. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.4.1207.
This study sought to investigate Iranian women's preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) based on the level of breast self-examination and mammography screening practice and knowledge, including risk factors, signs and symptoms, and early detection methods via mammography screening.
This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, population-based study conducted from October to March 2020 on over 35-year-old women living in Mashhad, selected through the convenient sampling method applied in health centers of Mashhad city. To measure the willingness to pay, the study participants were asked for their preferred choices concerning out-of-pocket payment for screening.
More than one-half (58.6%) of the study's sample size had an intermediate level of knowledge regarding breast cancer's risk factors, and only 12.7% of them had an unsatisfactory level of knowledge. However, most of the participants had a poor level of practice towards breast self-examination and mammography screening. The results of measuring the willingness to pay (WTP) indicated that 11.5% of the participants were not willing to pay at all for mammography breast cancer screening, while 53.3% of the participants were willing to pay 2.27 to 3.41 $U.S, and 35.2% of the participants were willing to pay more than 3.41 $U.S for mammography breast cancer screening.
Any attempt to promote breast cancer screening among Iranian women should primarily focus on increasing such indices as awareness, education, health status, and household income. It should be noted that the majority of the participants possessed an average level of knowledge. Moreover, women lack appropriate information about breast cancer and its' early detection measures. However, it was found that self-employed women were more likely to practice breast self-examination than the women employed in governmental organizations, which could be attributed to the fact that self-employed women could dedicate more time to checking their breasts and practicing breast self-examination.
本研究旨在调查伊朗女性对基于乳房自我检查和乳房 X 光筛查实践和知识水平的偏好和支付意愿（WTP），包括乳腺癌的危险因素、症状和体征以及通过乳房 X 光筛查进行早期检测的方法。
这是一项描述性、横断面、基于人群的研究，于 2020 年 10 月至 3 月在马什哈德市的卫生中心通过方便抽样法对 35 岁以上的女性进行了调查。为了衡量支付意愿，研究参与者被要求对他们愿意为筛查支付多少费用进行选择。
研究样本中超过一半（58.6%）的人对乳腺癌危险因素的知识处于中等水平，只有 12.7%的人知识水平较差。然而，大多数参与者对乳房自我检查和乳房 X 光筛查的实践水平较差。支付意愿（WTP）的测量结果表明，11.5%的参与者根本不愿意为乳房 X 光乳腺癌筛查付费，而 53.3%的参与者愿意支付 2.27 至 3.41 美元，35.2%的参与者愿意支付超过 3.41 美元用于乳房 X 光乳腺癌筛查。
任何在伊朗女性中推广乳腺癌筛查的尝试都应主要集中在提高意识、教育、健康状况和家庭收入等指标上。值得注意的是，大多数参与者都有平均水平的知识。此外，女性缺乏有关乳腺癌及其早期检测措施的适当信息。然而，研究发现，个体经营者比在政府机构工作的女性更有可能进行乳房自我检查，这可能是因为个体经营者可以有更多的时间检查乳房并进行乳房自我检查。
