Project on Beliefs and practices related to breast self-examination among a sample of young Cypriot and Egyptian Women
The project is under the Cyprus-Egypt bilateral agreement on research and is funded by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation
Summary
The main objective of the research study is to utilize the modified version Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale (modified by Mikhail& Petro-Nustas, 2001) in order to assess women’s beliefs and practices related to breast cancer and Breast Self Examination (BSE).
The research is targeting a sample of Cypriot women and a sample of Arab women living in Egypt, since breast cancer in both countries is considered one of the main leading causes for women’s death.
As breast cancer mortality can be influenced by providing women with better chance of survival if breast cancer can be detected early; it is the purpose of this study to investigate factors influencing women’s beliefs and practices of BSE.
The modified tool of Health Belief Model Scale that was adopted and tested for its applicability on a sample of Arab Jordanian women living in Jordan of the Middle East by two Arab researchers (Mikhail& Petro-Nustas, 2001) will be utilized in this research.
Thus, the Cypriot and Egyptian women’s beliefs about breast cancer and the practice of breast self examination (as a method of early detection of breast cancer) will be investigated on a sample of 800 women (400 from each country) by two principal researchers working at RUBSI (Research Unit in Behaviour & Social Issues) and Cairo University.
The actual conduct of research will take place in two university institutions:
- The University of Nicosia, to which RUBSI is academically affiliated and
- Cairo University in Egypt.
The results of the study will be of great significance to the health promotion efforts done on women’s health in both Cyprus and Egypt. After getting results concerning women’s actual performance of BSE, and their beliefs and attitudes towards breast cancer; both researchers can plan related health education and promotion activities to encourage the use of BSE as an easy, cheap and effective way for detecting early breast lumps.
As manifested in several research studies, early detection and early treatment of breast cancer have been associated with a better survival rate.Therefore, it’s the intention of this research activity to investigate factors influencing the practice of BSE including assessing women’s beliefs and attitudes towards breast cancer.