Abstract
Background
In southern Brazil, the main cause of mortality from cancer among women is breast cancer. Annual clinical breast examination is recommended as a screening measure.
Objective
To investigate the prevalence of patients that did not perform breast exams in the last 12 months and its associated factors in women aged 20 to 69 years living in São Leopoldo/RS in 2015.
Method
The present research is a population-based, cross-sectional study; demographic and socio-economic variables were included in the analysis; prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated by Poisson regression.
Results
Among the 1128 women sampled, the prevalence of not performing clinical breast exams was of 52.6% (95%CI: 51.1-57.2); in the adjusted analysis, not performing clinical breast exams was associated with having a D/E socio-economic status (PR = 1.58; 95%CI: 1.16-2.15), as well as with having an educational level of 0 to 4 years of study (PR = 2.16; 95%CI: 1.33-3.53).
Conclusion
Women in social vulnerability were more likely to not perform the exams, demonstrating the inequity of the system.
Keywords:
women's health; breast; secondary prevention; social inequity; cross-sectional studies