Evaluation of the Status of Breast Cancer Screening in Women in Isfahan Province, Iran

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and is the most common malignancy among women in Iran that has had a significant upward trend in recent years.
In this cross-sectional study, 9591 women aged 20 to 65 years participated who were covered by distinct of subsidiary health centers of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Data collected through questionnaire via interviews done by visiting household's door.
Findings: The mean age of women was 37.6 ± 11.7 years, 94.3% of them were married, and 91.9% were housewives. 63.4% of them did breast self-examination (BSE), and 61.5% mentioned no pain at breast site the reasons as the reason for the lack of breast self-examination. 50.2% of women had at least one clinical breast exam in the past three years with the total average number of 1.9 ± 2.2 times. The most prevalent cause of failure to do clinical exam (85.9%) was having no problems with breast, and the lowest prevalent cause (4.2%) was the cost of the practice. 15.7% of women already had at least once mammogram, and the average frequency of mammography was 2.3 ± 2.4 times. Having no problems with breast was the main cause of undoing the mammography procedure (80.8%). There was statistically significant relationships between using breast cancer screening techniques with age, occupation, education level, parity, breast feeding, and family history of breast (P In this study, the status of breast cancer screening in women in Isfahan Province, Iran, was favorable compared to other studies, but still need to be upgraded.