The primary barriers to taking action on screening were competing concerns, such as taking time to care for their families, daily schedules and “carelessness” (Ahmed, 2010)
Among the most important competing priorities deterring women from screening included: too many other problems or worries, too busy and another physical problem.
Montazeri confirmed that about 25% of patients with breast symptoms had a delay of more than 3 months before seeking help from a health professional (Montazeri et al., 2003).
g) Negative experiences :
As Partin and Slater mentioned, negative experiences associated with previous mammograms is one of the barriers to attending screening (Partin and Slater, 2003)
h) Fatalism and misinformation:
Cancer-related fatalism has been defined as the perception that individuals have limited influence to change the …show more content…
8. Cultural Beliefs :
(Related to causes of cancer, treatment and screening practices):
a. Causes of cancer: American, people who have strong religious and spiritual beliefs, may view cancer as punishment for not living right (Borrayo et al., 2005).
Also, some cultures may associate physical abuse as a cause of breast cancer. Wardlow and Curry (1996) reported in their qualitative study that the African American participants believed bruises resulting from domestic violence could turn into cancer if they were not given any medical attention (Wardlow and Curry, 1996).
On the other hand, some Arab women perceived giving birth and breast-feeding as protective factors that reduce risk of breast cancer because of the belief that God blesses women who give birth to many children and breast feed their babies. This belief can reduce the risk of breast cancer but it also can be a barrier to breast cancer screening as some Arab women may believe that they do not need to be screened because they breastfeed/breastfed their children (Bener et al., 2002).
b. Treatment and cure