Understanding the perceptions and attitudes of Saudi women towards mammography

Abstract

Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women worldwide. Mammography remains the main screening tool for BC. However, despite its effectiveness, the percentage of women undergoing early mammography is very low; leading to more patients presenting at advanced stages of cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of Saudi women towards mammography as a screening tool for BC.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 309 women residents of Arar City, above 18 years of age and was conducted in the College of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from August 1,2024 to September 30, 2024. All participants were asked to complete a pre-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was thoroughly validated and reviewed by two consultants for content validity. The received back responses were then converted to Google Form and distributed online to the participants through WhatsApp. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 29.0, and a P-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The results indicated a significant relationship between Saudi women’s perceptions and attitudes towards mammography and their engagement with the procedure. The regression sum of squares was 54.757, with 8 degrees of freedom, yielding a mean square of 6.845. The F-value was 2174.447, which was highly significant, with P < 0.001.

Conclusion: This study highlights the significant role that Saudi women’s perceptions and attitudes towards mammography play in influencing their engagement with the procedure as a critical tool for BC screening.

Keywords: breast cancer, mammography, Saudi women, screening, perception, attitude

Citation: Shafiq  P. Understanding the perceptions and attitudes of Saudi women towards mammography. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2025;29(1):47-53; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v29i1.2671

Received: December 22, 2024; Reviewed: December 24, 2024; Accepted: