Exploring the association between women autonomy and the uptake of breast cancer screening in Ghana

Background

Breast Cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women, yet the uptake of BC screening exercises remains low, particularly in patriarchal settings of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Ghana, where women report lower decision-making autonomy regarding their own health. Despite the urgency of this issue, there is a notable lack of research in the Ghanaian context on how women's autonomy affects their engagement in BC screening.

Methods

Utilizing data from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) (N = 15,014 women), and employing logistic regression models, this study fills the scholarly gap and contributes to the existing literature by examining the association between women’s decision-making autonomy and the uptake of BC screening in Ghana.

Results

Women with greater decision-making autonomy (OR=1.169; p < 0.001), the employed (OR=1.186; p < 0.001), owners of valid health insurance cards (OR=1.185; p < 0.01), those who had proximity to health facilities (OR=1.170; p < 0.01), visited health facility in the preceding 12 months (OR=1.351; p < 0.001), and listened to radio at least once in a week (OR=1.486, p < 0.001), were all significantly more associated with BC screening. On the contrary, rural residents (OR=0.874; p < 0.05), traditional religious believers (OR=0.538; p < 0.05), all significantly reported lower odds of BC screening. More so, education, age, ethnicity, household wealth, and region of residence significantly predicted BC screening in the study context.

Conclusion

Preventive healthcare policies like BC screening must pay critical attention to women with less educational attainment or from poor socio-economic backgrounds who may lack autonomy regarding their own health.