{"title":"Thoughts, experiences, and perceived barriers of visually impaired women on breast self-examination: A qualitative descriptive study.","authors":"Ahu Aksoy Can, Melinda Duman, Mehmet Şahan Yaman","doi":"10.1080/07399332.2025.2519483","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We determined the thoughts, experiences, and perceived barriers of visually impaired women regarding BSE. The sample of this qualitative study consisted of 15 women with visual impairment. We identified four main themes after performing a thematic analysis: 'preventive approaches to breast health', 'thoughts on BSE', 'implementation of BSE' and 'barriers to BSE'. We found that women with visual impairment perform BSE, although not regularly, to protect their breast health, and that this examination is very important for early diagnosis. Half of these women did not undergo BSE regularly or accurately. Furthermore, the most significant barriers to BSE among these women were lack of knowledge, inability to recognize visual changes, barriers in health services, youth, fear, and lack of any breast problems. Results reflect that the BSE was challenging for women with visual impairment, and highlight the need to develop specific training programs for BSE.</p>","PeriodicalId":47836,"journal":{"name":"Health Care for Women International","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Care for Women International","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2025.2519483","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We determined the thoughts, experiences, and perceived barriers of visually impaired women regarding BSE. The sample of this qualitative study consisted of 15 women with visual impairment. We identified four main themes after performing a thematic analysis: 'preventive approaches to breast health', 'thoughts on BSE', 'implementation of BSE' and 'barriers to BSE'. We found that women with visual impairment perform BSE, although not regularly, to protect their breast health, and that this examination is very important for early diagnosis. Half of these women did not undergo BSE regularly or accurately. Furthermore, the most significant barriers to BSE among these women were lack of knowledge, inability to recognize visual changes, barriers in health services, youth, fear, and lack of any breast problems. Results reflect that the BSE was challenging for women with visual impairment, and highlight the need to develop specific training programs for BSE.
期刊介绍:
Health Care for Women International is a critically acclaimed, international publication that provides a unique interdisciplinary approach to health care and related topics that concern women around the globe. Published twelve times a year, Health Care for Women International includes the newest research, theories, and issues in the fields of public health, social science, health care practice, and health care policy. Scholars and practitioners address topics such as cultural differences, alternative lifestyles, domestic violence, public health issues associated with the aging of the population, maternal morbidity and mortality, infectious diseases, and a host of other gender-based ethical issues. The editor also encourages discussion topics, inviting readers to comment on articles that focus on specific aspects of health issue for women.