Motivations and reasons for women attending a Breast Self-Examination training program: A qualitative study

BMC Women's Health

Research Article

Yeu-Sheng Hsieh¹  Ue-Lin Chung²  Rea-Jeng Yang²  Herng-Dar Bih³  Chiun-Sheng Huang⁴  Lian-Hua Huang⁵ 

[1] Department of Agricultural Extension, National Taiwan University, 1 Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, 106, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health, 365, Mind Te Road, 112, Taipei, Taiwan;Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University, 1 Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, 106, Taipei, Taiwan;National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, 1, Sec. 1, Jen-Ai, Road, 100, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Nursing, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 1, Jen-Ai, Road, 100, Taipei, Taiwan;

关键词: Breast Cancer;    Risk Perception;    Breast Lesion;    Clinical Breast Examination;    Breast Health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6874-10-23

 received in 2009-12-28, accepted in 2010-07-10,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundBreast cancer is a major threat to Taiwanese women's health. Despite the controversy surrounding the effectiveness of breast self-examination (BSE) in reducing mortality, BSE is still advocated by some health departments. The aim of the study is to provide information about how women decide to practice BSE and their experiences through the training process. Sixty-six women aged 27-50 were recruited.MethodsA descriptive study was conducted using small group and individual in-depth interviews to collect data, and using thematic analysis and constant comparison techniques for data analysis.ResultsIt was found that a sense of self-security became an important motivator for entering BSE training. The satisfaction in obtaining a sense of self-security emerged as the central theme. Furthermore, a ladder motivation model was developed to explain the participants' motivations for entering BSE training. The patterns of motivation include opportunity taking, clarifying confusion, maintaining health, and illness monitoring, which were connected with the risk perception for breast cancer.ConclusionsWe recognize that the way women decide to attend BSE training is influenced by personal and social factors. Understanding the different risk assessments women rely on in making their health decisions is essential. This study will assist researchers and health professionals to gain a better understanding of alternative ways to deal with breast health, and not to be limited by the recommendations of the health authorities.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Yang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.