Beyond awareness: SG women need more info on breast cancer

While women in Singapore are well-informed about breast cancer, there still exists a need to provide them with educational materials carrying specific and balanced information, especially regarding screening and prevention, a recent study has found. Such an undertaking could help women develop for themselves accurate and realistic expectations of the procedure.

“Results showed that Singapore women were well-informed about the benefits of mammogram; however, specific knowledge, such as modifiable risk factors, reasons for different screening options, and the trade-off between harm and benefit, was still lacking,” the researchers said.

Data for the present qualitative study were collected through semi-structured interviews with 37 women (mean age 59.1±7.1 years) who had undergone a mammography screening during the past 2 years at the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) Clinic. Interviews were designed to assess the participants’ knowledge regarding mammography and screening practices, as well as their health communication and information-seeking behaviours.

Most participants were adherent to screening practices, with 90 percent attending regular mammography and 55.6 percent engaging in self-examination. [Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2021;22:1767-1774]

Notably, rather than the deliberate information seeking, participants were more commonly engaged in information scanning, defined as the gain of desired knowledge through incidental exposure (91.9 percent vs 62.2 percent). Even among those who sought information on purpose, nearly a quarter (24.3 percent) said that they were only motivated to do so when they or someone close to them were in need of medical attention.

As one participant said: “’I never do any reading, like research on breast cancer. Not necessary at the moment. If I really need to, I will do the research. Now it’s not so urgent or a priority.’”

Typically, participants chanced upon breast cancer-related information during conversations with friends who usually already had the malignancy. These interactions helped raise the participants’ awareness of the disease and affected their perceived susceptibility. Other common sources for information scanning included news and advertisements on the TV.

For women who searched for related information on their own, the internet emerged as their primary source. While most turned to search engines first, some reported that they also used social media sites, such as Facebook and YouTube. Some reported that they checked authoritative websites, too, such as of the SCS or the Health Promotion Board; others reported that they did not check for the credibility of their sources because they did not know how to.

Nevertheless, participants demonstrated generally high levels of awareness, correctly pointing out that early detection was key to effective disease management. Those who sought out information tended to have higher levels of knowledge than those who had just been incidentally exposed.

While most participants believed that the existing available information on breast cancer was enough and easy to understand, they still identified four important areas of improvement: prevention strategies, mammography results and other screening options, harms of overscreening, and access to affordable screening services.

“Study findings provide important implications for breast cancer education and programs to move beyond simply raising awareness and craft specific informative messages addressing the needs of the target group,” the researchers said.