Social factors affecting the acceptance of breast Cancer screening: a case of women at the Nairobi City Park Market

Abstract

Cancer is the leading cause of death in economically developing countries and breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women in both developed and developing nations. Statistics in Kenya show that about 50 Kenyans die daily from various forms of cancer. Most cancer patients seen in Kenya are diagnosed with late stages of the disease when treatment proves to be difficult if not impossible. The late stage diagnosis of breast cancer is seen to be more common in women from deprived backgrounds and therefore there is urgent need for these women to accept and be screened for breast cancer to avoid late diagnosis that make treatment difficult. The study sought to answer the following questions: what is the influence of breast cancer awareness and accessibility to breast cancer screening services on the acceptance of breast cancer screening and how perception and attitude towards breast cancer influences the acceptance of breast cancer screening. Research studies on factors influencing the acceptance of breast cancer screening as well as other forms of cancers were reviewed from a global perspective downto regional and local set up. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The researcher collected data by means of questionnaire where both closed and openendedquestions were used. The population of the study consisted of 400 women working at the Nairobi City Park Market where 120women were sampled for the study. The study revealed that women luck vital information such as, the benefits of breast cancer screening and types of screening methods. Social media (radio and television) plays a very important role in creating awarene§~qmong the market women about breast cancer. The study further revealed that MatKel women had very liraited access to cancer screening services because they lacked enough resources and had no insurance cover to cater for screening cost. The study also showed that women feared to go for breast cancer screening because it was a very painful process. Study concludes that perception and attitude towards breast cancer screening positively influences the acceptance of breast cancer screening and a positive increase in anyone of them will positively affect the acceptance of breast cancer screening. Among the recommendation suggested by the researcher includes, use of social media (radio and television) as the main channel to run the awareness campaigns on breast cancer screening, ensuring that there are community training programs on breast cancer, making it compulsory for women in informal sector to have a health cover and frequently run free cancer screening campaign at least once every month. The researcher suggested for further research to assess the influence of social factors on women working in other market in Nairobi or outside Nairobi as well as women working in other types of informal settings. The researcher further suggested research to establish whether cancer screening leads to change in one's lifestyle in terms of accepting cancer prevention measures.