Socio-demographic Factors Associated with Utilization of Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Methods in Turkey

OBJECTIVE Early screening methods are very important in reducing morbidity and mortality, especially in breast cancer (BC) and cervical cancer (CC). This study aims to investigate the sociodemographic factors associated with utilization of BC and CC screening methods among women in Turkey. METHODS The data were used from the Turkey Health Survey conducted by Turkish Statistical Institute in 2014. We included 8606 women aged 25 and over in the study. The utilization of early screening methods (breast self-examination [MEL mammography, or Pap smear [PS] test) was the dependent variable. Chi-square test was used to assess the association between sociodemographic factors and utilization of early screening methods. RESULTS As a result of the analysis, it was found that 46.5% of the women practiced BSE, 32.4% and 35.4% had mammography screening and PS test at least once, respectively. The results also indicated that there were statistically significant associations between sociodemographic factors such as age, marital status, education and income level, having chronic diseases, consulting a family physician, health status, and utilization of early screening methods. CONCLUSION Improving access to early screening methods is of great importance in reducing mortality and morbidity related to BC and CC. It is believed that certain enhancements, such as increasing women's awareness about cancer screening, should become widespread to increase the number of women using these methods.