McBride, K.A.; Fleming, C.A.; George, E.S.; Steiner, G.Z.; MacMillan, F. Double Discourse: Qualitative Perspectives on Breast Screening Participation among Obese Women and Their Health Care Providers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2019, 16, 534.
McBride, K.A.; Fleming, C.A.; George, E.S.; Steiner, G.Z.; MacMillan, F. Double Discourse: Qualitative Perspectives on Breast Screening Participation among Obese Women and Their Health Care Providers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 534.
McBride, K.A.; Fleming, C.A.; George, E.S.; Steiner, G.Z.; MacMillan, F. Double Discourse: Qualitative Perspectives on Breast Screening Participation among Obese Women and Their Health Care Providers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2019, 16, 534.
McBride, K.A.; Fleming, C.A.; George, E.S.; Steiner, G.Z.; MacMillan, F. Double Discourse: Qualitative Perspectives on Breast Screening Participation among Obese Women and Their Health Care Providers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 534.
Abstract
Obesity in Australia is rapidly rising, and is a major public health concern. Obesity increases risk of breast cancer and worse associated outcomes, yet breast screening participation rates in Australia are suboptimal and can be lower in higher risk, obese women. This study qualitatively explored barriers to breast screening participation in obese women in Australia. In-depth interviews (n=29), were conducted with obese women (BMI 30) and key health stakeholders. A disconnect between stakeholders’ and women’s perceptions was found. For women, low knowledge around a heightened need to screen existed, they reported limited desire to prioritize personal health needs, reluctance to screen due to poor body image and prior negative mammographic experiences due to issues with weight. Stakeholders perceived few issues in screening obese women beyond equipment limitations, and health and safety issues. Overall, weight was a taboo topic among our interviewees, indicating that a lack of discourse around this issue may be putting obese women at increased risk of breast cancer morbidity and mortality. Consideration of breast screening policy in obese women is warranted. Targeted health promotion on increased breast cancer risk in obese women is required as is a need to address body image issues and encourage screening participation.
Keywords
obesity; breast screening; mammograms; health service utilization;
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Endocrinology and Metabolism
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
