Evaluating knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices of breast and cervical cancer screening among Ukrainian women

Nataliia Ponzel, Pavlo Kolesnyk

Keywords: breast cancer, cervical cancer, screening, quesyionnaire

Background:

Cancer remains a leading global public health issue, ranking as the second
leading cause of death. Among women, breast cancer is the most commonly
diagnosed, while cervical cancer is the fourth. In Ukraine, the lack of organized
screening programs and the ongoing war have further complicated cancer
prevention and early detection efforts.

Research questions:

How reliable and valid is the Ukrainian Breast and Cervical Screening Questionnaire (UBC-SQ) for assessing knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to breast and cervical cancer screening among Ukrainian women?
What are the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to breast and cervical cancer screening among Ukrainian women as evaluated by the UBC-SQ?

Method:

The study involve translating, cultural adaptation and validation of UBC-SQ. The process include forward-
backward translation, experts review, comprehensive validity and reliability assessments. Participants will be recruited through health care centres and a family medicine clinics, Ukraine. The study include women aged 21-74 who were literate. Participants with a history of breast or cervical cancer will excluded. As well as looking at overall knowledge, beliefs, attitude and screening practices we will compare them within women in Ukraine with those outside it and in different regions.

Results:

We will present the study protocol and preliminary results of validation of UBC-SQ.

Conclusions:

Literature research about breast and cervical cancer screening practices in Ukraine is limited. There is insufficient evidence that clearly identifies the specific beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes influencing women's screening behaviors. Therefore, developing, testing and using a reliable assessment tool to evaluate these is crucial. The results of research would be essential for GP's in creating effective interventions to promote screening practices for both breast and cervical cancer and would provide valuable insights for improving public health strategies in Ukraine.

Points for discussion:

The importance of implementing organized screening programs in Ukraine.

Strategies for improving cancer screening awareness and practices among Ukrainian women, especially in conflict-affected areas.

Would any EGPRN colleagues like to collaborate with us in this research?

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