Directorate of Cancer Prevention Services, Ocean Road Cancer Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Health and Social Sciences Research Foundation (HSSRF), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
BMC Cancer. 2024 Oct 25;24(1):1312. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12960-w.
Breast Cancer remains among the top five cancers responsible for morbidity and mortality globally. For many years, infectious (communicable) diseases were a primary concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to higher-income countries, where non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were already a major concern. However, starting from the early 2000s, the LMICs including Tanzania has witnessed an epidemiological transition being equally affected by NCDs, and breast cancer, is among the prevalent NCDs. While the evidence is vast on the role of breast cancer screening messages in promoting screening, debunking myths, and addressing barriers to the uptake of breast cancer services, context-specific messages are limited. Amidst the changing technology, growth of social media and cultural dynamics, context-specific breast cancer screening messages are needed. We aimed to analyze the breast cancer screening messages from the experiences of women seeking care at Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania.
An exploratory qualitative case study adopting in-depth interviews (IDI) and focused group discussion (FGD) was carried out among purposefully selected women aged from 18 years to 65 years seeking care from Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Eighteen women participated in the IDIs, and 16 women participated in FGD. Data analysis followed inductive qualitative content analysis.
Three main categories emerged: the existence of multiple sources of breast cancer screening messages, the strengths and weaknesses of breast cancer screening messages, and clients' mixed perceptions of breast cancer screening messages.
The findings of this study depict that although breast cancer screening promotion messages are regarded as a source of information about cancers, they fall short of completeness and relevance to the otherwise at-risk population and trigger negative perceptions toward screening. Therefore, this study advocates revisiting the breast cancer screening messages, employing participatory approaches to tailor the screening messages and communication media to fit specific audiences. This calls for re-designing both the content of the messages and means of delivery; thus, collaborative efforts are needed.
乳腺癌仍然是导致全球发病率和死亡率的前五名癌症之一。多年来，传染病（传染性疾病）一直是低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）的主要关注点，而高收入国家则已经主要关注非传染性疾病（NCDs）。然而，从 21 世纪初开始，坦桑尼亚等中低收入国家见证了非传染性疾病同样对其造成影响的流行病学转变，乳腺癌是其中流行的非传染性疾病之一。虽然有大量证据表明乳腺癌筛查信息在促进筛查、揭穿神话和解决接受乳腺癌服务的障碍方面发挥了作用，但针对特定背景的信息却有限。在不断变化的技术、社交媒体的发展和文化动态中，需要有针对特定背景的乳腺癌筛查信息。我们旨在分析坦桑尼亚海洋路癌症研究所寻求护理的女性的经验中的乳腺癌筛查信息。
采用目的抽样法，在坦桑尼亚达累斯萨拉姆的海洋路癌症研究所，对年龄在 18 岁至 65 岁之间的女性进行了一项探索性定性案例研究，采用深入访谈（IDI）和焦点小组讨论（FGD）。18 名女性参加了 IDI，16 名女性参加了 FGD。数据分析遵循归纳定性内容分析。
出现了三个主要类别：乳腺癌筛查信息的多个来源的存在、乳腺癌筛查信息的优缺点以及客户对乳腺癌筛查信息的混合看法。
本研究的结果表明，尽管乳腺癌筛查宣传信息被视为癌症信息的来源，但它们不够完整和相关，无法针对其他高危人群，并引发对筛查的负面看法。因此，本研究主张重新审视乳腺癌筛查信息，采用参与式方法量身定制适合特定受众的筛查信息和沟通媒体。这需要重新设计信息的内容和传递方式；因此，需要共同努力。
