BACKGROUND:The current study was conducted to assess screening behaviors in relation to cultural and environmental barriers among Palestinian women in the West Bank. METHODS: The participants were 397 women, ages 30 to 65 years, residing in the Palestinian Authority, and a stratified sample method was used (98.3% participation rate). The participants completed questionnaires on breast examination behaviors and knowledge, on perceived cancer fatalism and health beliefs, and on environmental barriers scales. RESULTS: Greater than 70% of the women had never undergone mammography or clinical breast examination (CBE), whereas 62% performed self breast examination (SBE). Women were more likely to undergo mammography if they were less religious (odds ratio [OR], 0.59; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.47-0.81) and if they expressed lower personal barriers (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.29-0.76) and lower fatalism (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.28-0.63). A higher likelihood for CBE was related to being Christian (OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.49-5.73) and being less religious (OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.13-0.78), to perceived higher effectiveness of CBE (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.20-1.79), and to perceived lower cancer fatalism (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.28-0.60). Women were more likely to perform SBE if they were more educated, resided in cities, were Christian, were less religious, had a firstdegree relative with breast cancer, perceived higher effectiveness and benefits of SBE, and perceived lower barriers and fatalism. CONCLUSIONS: Participants reported a combination of personal, cultural, and environmental barriers, which should be addressed by educational programs and followed by the allocation of resources for early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Cancer 2010;116:4646-55.

Health perceptions are changing, but the pace of change varies across societies, exercising different effects on women's screening behaviors. Our aim is to assess the rate of mammography and clinical breast examination (CBE) attendance in younger and older Arab women in Israel and in the West Bank, and the effect of health beliefs on the screening behaviors. A random sample of 697 Arab women, 300 from Israel and 397 from the West Bank, aged 30-65 years, answered questionnaires on screening behaviors, the Arab culture-specific barriers, fatalism, worry, and health beliefs. The participation rate was 93.5% in Israel and 98.3% in the West Bank. Higher fatalistic perceptions, traditional beliefs, barriers to bodily exposure, and social, environmental, and personal barriers to screening were reported by women from the West Bank compared to Arab women in Israel and by older women compared to the younger women. Adjusted lower likelihood of attending screening was predicted by group (AOR 3.55, 95% CI 1.25-10.11 for mammography and AOR 2.36, 95% CI 1.19-3.65 for CBE), higher fatalism (AOR 0.52, 95% CI 0.30-76 for mammography and AOR 0.68, 95% CI 0.54-92 for CBE), more traditional beliefs (AOR 0.61, 95% CI 0.48-0.80 for mammography and AOR 0.51, 95% CI 0.39-0.68 for CBE), and higher barriers to self-exposure (AOR 0.69, 95% CI 0.48-0.83 for mammography and AOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.62-0.95 for CBE), higher perceived personal barriers (AOR 0.36, 95% CI 0.12-1.08 for mammography and AOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.60-0.98 for CBE), and lower perceived benefits (AOR 1.98, 95% CI 1.17-3.34 for mammography and AOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.06-1.81 for CBE). Also, adjusted lower likelihood of CBE attendance was predicted by younger age, higher religiosity, and higher social barriers. Differences in screening behaviors of younger and older Arab women from the West Bank and from Israel represent a traditional-westernizing continuum of change, but are also related to the social and situational context.

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