Cancer screening behaviors and health literacy levels of women aged 30 and over in the northwest Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the cancer screening behaviors and the associated factors of women aged 30 years and older during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The study was carried out as a cross-sectional study with 301 women aged 30 years and older in Edirne, which is a border province in northwestern Turkiye. The data was collected via using the Personal Information Form and the and Turkiye Health Literacy Scale-32 (THL-32). In the statistical analysis, the number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square test, pearson correlation analysis and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were used. The mean age of the participants is 43.66 ± 9.02 years. 74.8% of the women had not undergone any screening tests during the pandemic, and 80.7% of them displayed limited and inadequate health literacy levels. 21.9% of women aged 30 and over received Pap smear screening, 22.3% of women aged 40 and over underwent mammography, and 16.7% of women aged 50 and over had screening colonoscopy. Based on the results of multivariate regression analysis, those with adequate health literacy (Odds Ratio (OR): 4.421, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.114-17.539), those who had undergone breast examination performed by a physician (OR: 22.761, 95% CI: 5.930-87.364), and those who participated in papsmear screening (OR: 4.509, 95% CI: 1.605-12.672) were more likely to participate in mammography screening. Women who had a breast examination performed by a physician were also more likely to participate in pap-smear screening (OR: 1.139, 95% CI: 1.074-1.965) and colonoscopy screening (OR: 7.924, 95% CI: 2.384-26.375). The research group showed low levels of participation in cancer screening tests and low levels of health literacy. It is necessary to conduct more awareness-raising campaigns for target groups to encourage them to participate in the screening programs and to improve their health literacy.