The Frequency of Breast Cancer Risk Factors and the Correlation of the Results of the Risk Assessment Models in The Iranian Population

Breast cancer is an important preventable health problem, worldwide. In this study, the frequency of breast cancer risk factors and the level of individuals risk using different risk assessment instruments were assessed.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Kerman, Iran, 2018. Seven hundred women referred to the comprehensive health care centers were participated in the study using a cluster sampling method. The International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS) and Breast Cancer Screening (BCS) risk assessment models were used. The frequency of different breast cancer risk factors was asked using the self-administered questionnaire. Data were entered into the SPSS software. The descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation test were used. 

The frequency of being overweight/obesity, having a sedentary lifestyle, second-hand exposure to tobacco, and having anxiety was 54.1%, 54.7%, 21.3%, 26%, respectively. Considering the lifetime risk ≥20% according to the IBIS and BCS models, 2.8% and 0.1% of participants were high risks. There was a significant positive correlation between the IBIS 5-year risk of breast cancer and the BCS chart risk (r=0.716, P≤0.001). There was not any significant correlation between the IBIS lifetime risk of breast cancer and the BCS chart risk (r=0.035, P=0.358).

The prevalence of modifiable risk factors of breast cancer is considerable in Iranian women. Community-based, primordial and primary prevention intervention should design. There are some national and international breast cancer risk assessment models, but their accuracy in the Iranian population and the perfect threshold score to determine high-risk individuals is not clear.