title: Breast cancer risk perceptions of Turkish women attending primary care: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As the risks and benefits of early detection and primary prevention strategies for breast cancer are beginning to be quantified, the risk perception of women has become increasingly important as may affect their screening behaviors. This study evaluated the women's breast cancer risk perception and their accuracy, and determined the factors that can affect their risk perception accuracy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data was collected in a cross-sectional survey design. Questionnaire, including breast cancer risk factors, risk perceptions and screening behaviors, answered by 624 women visiting primary health care center (PHCC). "Perceived risk" investigated with numeric and verbal measures. Accuracy of risk perception was determined by women's Gail 5-year risk scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the participants was 59.62 ± 1.97 years. Of the women 6.7% had a first-degree relative with breast cancer, 68.9% performed breast self-examination and 62.3% had a mammography, and 82.9% expressed their breast cancer worry as "low". The numeric measure correlated better with worry and Gail scores. Of the women 65.5% perceived their breast cancer risk accurately. Among the women in "high risk" group 65.7% underestimated, while in "average risk" group 25.4% overestimated their risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Turkish women visiting PHCC are overtly and overly optimistic. This was especially obvious with the result that nearly one third had had no mammography. There is a need for further studies to understand why and how this optimism is maintained so that better screening strategies can be applied at PHCC. All health workers working at PHCC have to be aware of this optimism to prevent missed opportunities for cancer screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Medical Faculty of Dokuz Eylul University, 35340, Inciralti, Izmir, Turkey. mehtapkartal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mehtap
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kartal
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Medical Faculty of Dokuz Eylul University, 35340, Inciralti, Izmir, Turkey. nilgunozcakar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nilgun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozcakar
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Specialist, Ministry of Health, 24th Family Health Center, Izmir, Turkey. sehnaz63@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sehnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatipoglu
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Specialist, Izmir, Turkey. drnesli293@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Makbule Neslisah
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Medical Faculty of Dokuz Eylul University, 35340, Inciralti, Izmir, Turkey. dilek.guldal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Azize Dilek
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Guldal
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011320:Primary Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey