Breast self-examination: do religious beliefs matter? A descriptive study.

Background: A descriptive study was conducted in Tehran, Iran, to investigate the beliefs of Muslim women and their practices regarding screening modalities of breast cancer.

Methods: A questionnaire was specially designed and validated to collect data and was completed by 410 Muslim women.

Results: A vast majority of women (90 per cent) said that breast self-examination is not against their religious beliefs. With regard to clinical breast examination, although 58 per cent preferred to be examined by a female physician, 47 per cent said that clinical breast examination by a male physician is not against their Islamic beliefs. However, only 6 per cent of respondents performed breast self-examination on a regular basis (monthly).

Conclusions: The study findings suggest that most Muslim women do not perceive breast self-examination as being against their Islamic beliefs and that they believe clinical breast examination by a male physician does not interfere with their religious beliefs.