Cultural beliefs about breast cancer in Vietnamese women

• DOI: 10.1186/s12905-019-0777-3
• Publication Date: 2019-06-11T10:03:07Z
• Authors: Jong Gun Kim; Hye Chong Hong; Hyeonkyeong Lee; Carol Estwing Fer...; Eun-Mi Kim
• Keywords: Adult; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Social Values; Mammography/psychology; Health Behavior; Cultural beliefs; 610; Vietnamese women; Breast Neoplasms; 613; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Breast cancer; 0302 clinical medicine; Surveys and Questionnaires; Humans; Health behavior; Health Education; Health Education/methods; Public health; Health Knowledge; Gynecology and obstetrics; Middle Aged; Breast Neoplasms/psychology*; 3. Good health; Cross-Sectional Studies; Attitudes; Practice/ethnology*; RG1-991; Health Behavior/ethnology*; Female; Nursing education; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Vietnamese women.; Research Article; Mammography

This study examined factors influencing cultural beliefs associated with later-stage detection of breast cancer and determined what factors influence those cultural beliefs in Vietnamese women residing in a rural Vietnamese community.A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 289 women aged 20-64 years from 12 villages using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Cultural beliefs were measured with a 13-item cultural beliefs scale consisting of four domains-characteristics of breast lumps, self-help techniques, faith-based beliefs, and futility of treatment. Data were collected in February 2017 and analyzed using chi-square tests, nonparametric tests, Fisher's exact tests, and multiple linear regression analyses with SPSS/WIN 24.0 statistical software.Although the total score was relatively low (3.4 out of 13), cultural beliefs that could contribute to later-stage breast cancer were identified. Younger women (β = .15, p = .016) and women with a lower income (β = .21, p < .001) held more erroneous cultural beliefs as compared to their counterparts. Most women believed they would not get breast cancer if they took care of themselves. More than one-third held cultural beliefs about breast lumps, thinking they would need to be painful and/or actively growing to be breast cancer.The results support the urgent need for education concerning breast cancer health promotion, including breast cancer assessment as well as guidance on evidence-based and up-to-date detection measures to change rural Vietnamese women's cultural beliefs.