Facilitators And Barriers To The Practice Of Breast Cancer In Black Women

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in black women, yet black women are among the least likely to participate in breast screening. Little is known about factors that promote or inhibit the practice of breast cancer screening in this population. The purpose of this study was to determine what facilitators and barriers exist to the practice of breast cancer screening in black women. The theoretical frameworks for this study were Leininger\u27s Transcultural Nursing Theory and Champion\u27s Modified Health Belief Model. Utilizing a descriptive research design, a sample of 67 black women with no history of breast cancer was studied regarding facilitators and barriers to the practice of breast cancer screening. The major facilitative factor identified was, If I find a lump or change in my breast, I will seek medical attention quickly. The major barrier was, Having a routine mammogram or x-ray of the breast would make me worry about breast cancer. These findings indicated that lack of understanding of early prevention methods is a primary inhibitor to breast cancer screening in black women. Additional findings revealed statistically 111 significant positive correlations between age and having had a mammogram, and between education and frequency of performance of self-breast examination. Findings from the statistical analysis were supported by answers to the open-ended questions. Outcomes from this study serve to underscore the reality that health providers must attend to the matter of teaching and providing breast cancer screening to black women in a culturally sensitive manner in order to achieve optimal outcomes. The following recommendations for future research were made: (a) replication of the study utilizing a larger and more equally distributed sample, (b) replication of the study utilizing older black women, (c) adaptation of Tanner\u27s Breast Cancer Screening Survey so that less time is required for completion, (d) a qualitative study allowing black women an opportunity to give narrative responses regarding perceptions, facilitators, and barriers to the practice of breast cancer screening