Investigation of the relationship between fear of the pandemic and health beliefs regarding breast cancer of women between the ages of 40-69.

Background: Given the paucity of studies in the existing literature that have evaluated the relationship between women's fear of the pandemic and their health beliefs about breast cancer, it was deemed necessary to conduct a study on this subject. The study was designed to ascertain the breast cancer risk status of women aged 40-69 years and to examine the relationship between pandemic fear and health beliefs about breast cancer.

Materials and methods: The descriptive and correlational study was conducted online data collection form from July to December 2021. The convenience sampling method was employed to recruit 180 women aged 40-69 years. Data was collected through the "Introductory Information Form", "COVID-19 Fear Scale" and "Champion's Health Belief Model Scale for Breast Cancer Screening". "The 'Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Form" was used to calculate participants' breast cancer risk scores.

Results: The results indicated that the participation rate in the breast cancer screening program during the pandemic period was low (17.8%). A statistically significant positive and very weak relationship (ρ = 0.179) was found between the total score of the COVID-19 Fear scale and the total score of the Health Belief Model (HBM) scale. Furthermore, a weak positive relationship (ρ = 0.340) was found in the seriousness sub-dimension. These relationships were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.01). As the total score of the COVID-19 Fear scale increased, the total score of the HBM scale and the seriousness sub-dimension scores decreased.

Conclusion: It was found that the fear of contracting COVID-19 negatively affected their behaviors to maintain their health beliefs about breast cancer prevention. As a result, it is recommended that women be encouraged to participate in screening programs to protect, maintain, and improve their health during the pandemic.