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The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa

The incidence of breast cancer in South Africa is increasing, with rural South African women presenting with advanced stages of the disease. A woman’s breasts are a symbol of her womanhood; they also constitute a social definition of her femininity. Women with breast cancer in rural South Africa are...

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Autores principales: Sarmah, Nelisha, Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula, Khoza, Thandokuhle Emmanuel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10649850/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37947562
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20217005
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author Sarmah, Nelisha
Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
Khoza, Thandokuhle Emmanuel
author_facet Sarmah, Nelisha
Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
Khoza, Thandokuhle Emmanuel
author_sort Sarmah, Nelisha
collection PubMed
description The incidence of breast cancer in South Africa is increasing, with rural South African women presenting with advanced stages of the disease. A woman’s breasts are a symbol of her womanhood; they also constitute a social definition of her femininity. Women with breast cancer in rural South Africa are heavily stigmatized and suffer from various sociocultural interpretations of the disease. Breast cancer is frequently interpreted in rural South Africa as a symbol of witchcraft, sin, and punishment, and traditionally, it is treated by offering animal sacrifices, consumption of herbs, and prayer to ancestors. Using care-seeking behaviour theory as the theoretical framework, we intend to explore the sociocultural factors influencing breast cancer screening practices among rural South African women. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 22 rural South African women selected by purposive sampling. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study identified four sociocultural factors influencing women’s practices of breast cancer screening in rural South Africa, including psychological factors, habits, beliefs, and perceptions of healthcare. Women in rural South African communities have deep-rooted traditional beliefs and practices regarding breast cancer. Consequently, this influences women’s preventative health behaviours regarding breast cancer screening. The development of culturally appropriate health education programs involving traditional healers and influential community leaders is essential to increasing the number of women being screened for breast cancer in rural South Africa.
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spelling pubmed-106498502023-11-01 The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa Sarmah, Nelisha Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula Khoza, Thandokuhle Emmanuel Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The incidence of breast cancer in South Africa is increasing, with rural South African women presenting with advanced stages of the disease. A woman’s breasts are a symbol of her womanhood; they also constitute a social definition of her femininity. Women with breast cancer in rural South Africa are heavily stigmatized and suffer from various sociocultural interpretations of the disease. Breast cancer is frequently interpreted in rural South Africa as a symbol of witchcraft, sin, and punishment, and traditionally, it is treated by offering animal sacrifices, consumption of herbs, and prayer to ancestors. Using care-seeking behaviour theory as the theoretical framework, we intend to explore the sociocultural factors influencing breast cancer screening practices among rural South African women. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 22 rural South African women selected by purposive sampling. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study identified four sociocultural factors influencing women’s practices of breast cancer screening in rural South Africa, including psychological factors, habits, beliefs, and perceptions of healthcare. Women in rural South African communities have deep-rooted traditional beliefs and practices regarding breast cancer. Consequently, this influences women’s preventative health behaviours regarding breast cancer screening. The development of culturally appropriate health education programs involving traditional healers and influential community leaders is essential to increasing the number of women being screened for breast cancer in rural South Africa. MDPI 2023-11-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10649850/ /pubmed/37947562 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20217005 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Sarmah, Nelisha
Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
Khoza, Thandokuhle Emmanuel
The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa
title The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa
title_full The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa
title_fullStr The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa
title_short The Sociocultural Influences on Breast Cancer Screening among Rural African Women in South Africa
title_sort sociocultural influences on breast cancer screening among rural african women in south africa
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10649850/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37947562
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20217005
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