Hatice Bebiş

Determining the awareness of and compliance with breast cancer screening among Turkish residential women.

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Despite being associated with high morbidity and mortality, breast cancer is a disease that can be diagnosed and treated early. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this cross-sectional study of 321 women, data were collected by Questionnaire, Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Form and Champions Health Belief Model Scale. Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Chi- squared tests and logistic regression were used in the statistical analysis. RESULTS It was found that only 2.2% of women have high and very high risk levels of breast cancer risk. There is a positive correlation between early diagnosis techniques and Health Belief Model Sub-Dimension scores which are sensibility, health motivation, BSE (Breast self-examination) self-efficient perception and negative correlation between mammography barrier score and BSE barrier score (p 0.05). When factors for not having BSE were examined, it was determined that the women who do not have information about breast cancer and the women who smoke have a higher risk of not having BSE. CONCLUSIONS It is important to determine health beliefs and breast cancer risk levels of women to increase the frequency of early diagnosis. Womens health beliefs are thought to be a good guide for planning health education programs for nurses working in this area.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of testicular cancer and testicular self-examination training for patient care personnel: intervention study

Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common malignancy among men aged 15-35 years. Testicular self-examination (TSE) is an important tool for preventing late-stage TC diagnoses. This study aimed to assess health beliefs and knowledge related to TC and TSE and the effectiveness of TC and TSE training for patient care staff in a hospital. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled intervention study. The study included 96 patient care staff divided into two groups of 48 participants each: Group I, the interactive education group, and Group II, the pamphlet education group. The results demonstrated that TSE practice and TC knowledge significantly increased in both Group I and Group II. Significant differences were observed between the groups pre and post education. TSE and TC knowledge levels were higher for participants in Group I than those in Group II. There was a significant difference in the performance of TSEs between groups: the rates were 83.3% in Group I and 54.2% in Group II. Perceived confidence and perceived barriers increased significantly for both groups. Interactive education sessions should be used to train men at risk for TC to perform TSEs.

Evaluation of breast self-examination (BSE) application in first and second degree relatives of patients with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine beliefs concerning breast self-examination in first- and second-degree relatives of patients with breast cancer and evaluate their breast self-examination (BSE) application. MATERIALS AND METHODS A survey study was conducted in an oncology polyclinic and general surgery clinic of a hospital in Ankara, the capital of Turkey with a sample of 140 women. RESULTS It was determined that 60.7% of the participants had conducted BSE and 48.1% had undergone a clinical breast examination. Perceived self- efficacy of the women who performed BSE were significantly higher compared with women who did not practice BSE (p<0.001) Furthermore, perceived barriers were lower among those who had performed BSE (p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis indicated that women who perceived higher self-efficacy (OR: 1.119, 95% CI: 1.056- 1.185, p<0.001) and had regular CBE (OR: 8.250, 95% CI: 3.140-21.884, p<0.001) and educational status (OR: 5.287, 95% CI: 1.480-18.880, p<0.01) were more likely to perform BSE. CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study indicated that perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, and educational status could be predictors of BSE behavior among the first- and second-degree relatives of patients with breast cancer. Therefore, BSE training programs that emphasize self-efficacy and address perceived barriers are recommended.