Anxiety and Pain Level Associated with Mammography and the Impact of the Preexistence of Knowledge

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, after skin cancer. Early detection and treatment are recommended for reducing mortality and suffering. However, screening behaviors are often avoided for many reasons, such as anxiety and stress. Mammography screening is the main recommended test for the early detection of breast cancer. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, level of pain, and stress in women during the early screening of breast cancer with a mammogram. Materials and methods: This study has been approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee. The study was conducted at Hafr Elbatin Central Hospital in Saudi Arabi among 100 women. Data were collected via a structured interview questionnaire before and immediately after the mammography procedure. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: (1) sociodemographic data and knowledge about the mammogram examination, (2) pain scale, and (3) anxiety scale. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: A total of 75% (n=75) of the women reported moderate to severe pain during the mammogram examination. Up to 57% (n=57) of the women expressed severe anxiety about the mammogram procedure. Most of the women-85% (n=85)-were found to have poor knowledge related to mammograms and mammogram preparation. There was a strong correlation between pain before and during the mammogram procedure, P-Value (0.00001*) with Chi-squared (33.40) and a highly significant correlation between satisfactory and unsatisfactory knowledge in women's P-Value (0.00001*) with z test (6.57). A poor knowledge about breast cancer was detected in the overall studied women and those who had never undergone mammography, particularly knowledge related to the risk factors for breast cancer. The most important predictors of the barriers to mammography were incorrect beliefs about mammography and its procedures. Conclusion: Pain expectations can be approached in various ways to make the mammography experience much more tolerable for women, thereby encouraging them to attend and return for their scans. It was determined that women who had mammography had a moderate level of anxiety.