Mammography stage of adoption among Iranian women

BACKGROUND: Stage of Change and Health Belief Models are two the most common models that have been applied in mammography screening behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify women in different stages of mammography adoption and to examine association between women's beliefs by stage of change among Iranian women. METHODS: In this population-based study, mammography screening behavior determined using the Rakoweski stage of change scale, and women beliefs were determined by Farsi version of Champion's Health Belief Model scale (CHBMS). The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS (version 16.0) using statistical analysis of variance and Chi-square tests that used to determine relation between socio-demographic variables and HBM scales with stage of mammography. In all of the tests, a significant level α = 0.05 was considered. RESULTS: According to stages of change distributions for mammography screening behavior, 36.2% were in pre-contemplation, 21.1% in contemplation, 4.2% in action, 6.2% in maintenance, and 32.3% were in relapse stage. There were significant differences in mammography stage by age, education, married status, family monthly income, husband job, information about breast cancer, and history of breast problems. ANOVA test showed significant differences by stages for all HBM scales, except to perceived severity. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that women in pre-contemplation, relapse, and contemplation stages are more likely need to educational intervention, which emphasizes the benefits and barriers of mammography, health motivation, and self-efficacy. Furthermore, examining individuals’ beliefs about breast cancer and mammography screening by stage of mammography adoption is especially important in order to development of effectiveness interventions, which targeted to stage of change and promote mammography screening behavior.