Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com examination (BSE) every month as from the age of 20 years, clinical breast examination (CBE) in at least every 3 years between the ages of 20-39 years, and both CBE and mammography every year as from the age of 40 years.3 According to the national breast cancer screening standards in Turkey; women are recommended to have breast self examination every month as from the age of 20 years, CBE in every 2 years between the ages of 20-40 years and every year between the ages of 40-69 years, and mammography in every two years between the ages of 40-69 years. 4 On the other hand, women have a lower rate of displaying early diagnosis behaviors of breast cancer. The studies conducted in Turkey have reported that women have insufficient early diagnosis behaviors of breast cancer. As a result of a study, it was determined that while women aged 20 and older regularly had regularly BSE at the rate of 23.4%, women aged 40 and older had mammography at the rate of 3.2%. 8 Reasons behind why women do not have early diagnosis behaviors of breast cancer involve some factors such as negligence towards screenings, forgetfulness, lack of knowledge, low educational level, time limitation, insufficient income status, inaccessibility to healthcare services, lack of health insurance, failure of getting an appointment, shame for examination/denominational beliefs, no support from family, no advice from the medical personnel, and belief of fatalism.
9On the other hand, factors like fear regarding screening methods, diagnosis of breast cancer, and losing breasts are important in terms of determining the early diagnosis behaviors of women.
10,11Breast cancer continues to threaten life despite the advancements in health sciences, development of early diagnosis methods, and the increasing sensitivity of society on this issue 3 . Thus, every community is required to reveal the risks of breast cancer, determine the risk groups, and extend its screening programs.12,13 Breast cancer could be treated and it has a very high rate of survival when it is diagnosed in early period, which makes the role of healthcare professionals and especially the nurses more important.14 Important responsibilities of nurses involve participating in breast cancer screening programs, enabling women to regularly display screening behaviors (mammography, CBE and BSE), developing and extending early diagnosis studies, and having an active role in participation in programs. [14][15][16] It is also important for nurses to motivate and support women for increasing early diagnosis behaviors. 17,18 This cross-sectional study was conducted for the purpose of determining the breast cancer risk levels of women older than 40 in a residential area, gaining the habit of having mammography, which is among the early screening programs, directing them for mammography, and assessing the results of mammography.