Background Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among females worldwide and prognosis depends on early diagnosis; however women seldom seek medical attention on time. Two of the important reasons for this delay are BC worry (BCW) and fear (BCF). We aimed to assess whether educating healthy women about BC could affect their BCF and BCW. Methods Participants were women above 18 years who visited the Breast Clinic who had a normal or benign breast assessment and were not suffering from any psychological disorder. They filled a survey including items of the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), Lerman BCW scale and Champion BCF scale before and after the intervention. In the course of the study, 20 short educational videos about BC were sent to all of them by WhatsApp. Results The mean age of the 104 participants was 38.37 years. HADS scores showed a fairly good general psychological health of the participants before and after the intervention. The mean BCW and BCF score decreased significantly after vs. before the intervention. Conclusions Our study showed that educating healthy women about BC can effectively reduce BCF and BCW. We suggest that similar studies follow the participants in order to assess the effect on their health-seeking behaviour about BC in the long term.

Background Health status and perception can be assessed by general or disease-specific questionnaires, the latter are more sensitive. Considering the importance of breast health in women’s lives and the lack of any pertinent questionnaire, we performed this study to develop a valid and reliable short BH questionnaire (BHQ); and then use it for the assessment of participants. Methods We first designed and developed the instrument, followed by measurement of inter-rater agreement IRA, content validity including content validity index (I-CVI) and scale content validity index (S-CVI), and reliability (through internal consistency and test-retest). We then included eligible women with normal breasts and benign breast disorders who attended our breast clinic. Results The IRA index (78.6%) showed optimal relevance and clarity of the questionnaire. The content validity was acceptable; with an S-CVI of 87.35 and 84.42 for clarity and relevance, respectively. One question was eliminated (I-CVI < 70%). The internal reliability was high (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93). For external consistency, three questions were eliminated (intraclass correlation coefficient < 0.7), the rest of the questions showed good and excellent reliability. In the next step, BH in the 350 eligible participants showed an overall score of 55.86 ± 11.57. Among different variables, age was the only one that showed a significant direct relationship with BH. A history of breast surgery for benign lesions and a family history of breast cancer did not affect BH. Conclusion This study introduces a valid reliable 11-item BHQ. We propose its use in various conditions throughout breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment; and in the assessment of BH in various physiologic and reproductive situations.