Evaluation of Breast Cancer Risk Levels and Its Relation with Breast Self-Examination Practices in Women.

Objective: This study was performed to determine the breast cancer risk levels and its relation with the frequency of breast self-examination practices in women who were 20 years old and over.

Materials and methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 867 women, who were 20 years old and over presenting to a family medicine outpatient clinic for any reasons. The participants filled in the "Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Form" which is recommended to assess the risk of breast cancer by the Ministry of Health. The participants' risk levels have been classified as low, medium, high, and the highest risk.

Results: The mean age of the participating women was 38.2±13.4 years, 69.7% (n=604) were married, 54.8% (n=475) were housewives, 33.9% (n=294) were working, 42.7% were graduated from primary school. The average risk score of the patients for breast cancer was 131.26 ±45.11 (50-325). As a result of this study, 87.3% (n=757) of the women were identified as having a low breast cancer risk, 12.6% (n=109) medium and 0.1% (n=1) of them were identified as having a high risk. The data demonstrated that 75.5% (n=655) of the women weren't doing breast self-examination (BSE). The rate of previous breast USG or mammography screening was 33.7% (n=292). There were no statistical relations between the breast cancer risk levels and BSE (p=0.396).

Conclusion: The risk of developing breast cancer was low among the women in the study group and breast self-examination rates were insufficient. In addition to training women by emphasizing the importance of breast self-examination in early diagnosis, the breast cancer risk questionnaire - an easy to implement, simple and costless tool - is recommended to be administered in the primary health care centers.