Educational interventions on breast cancer in men and women: a necessity in primary healthcare

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common diseases in the global population. It most commonly presents in women; however, there has been an increase in the number of men diagnosed with the disease, although at a lower rate. Its specific characteristics and associated risk factors mean that preventative measures are considered to be one of the most important methods of avoiding BC. Therefore, education is a fundamental part of this process. The objective of this study is to report on the educational interventions on BC carried out in healthcare between 2016 and 2021. To this end, an integrative review was carried out using the following databases: PubMed (NCBI), Science Direct, Scopus, SciELO and Google Scholar, using the keywords 'breast cancer', 'intervention education', 'prevention' and the Boolean operator 'AND'. Quantitative, full-text articles in English, Spanish or Portuguese were included. Finally, 19 articles were selected for analysis and it was found that, with regard to educational interventions on BC carried out in healthcare, one article included men and women and the remaining 18 included only women, with interventions carried out in sessions, workshops, in stages and using dynamic techniques. Therefore, there is a pressing need for educational interventions on BC for men and women at all stages of life; however, priority should be given to the young population in order to allow for early prevention. These interventions do not generate costs for the health sector, but they have a positive effect by increasing knowledge and promoting self-care.

Factors associated with awareness of breast cancer among women of reproductive age in Lesotho: a national population-based cross-sectional survey

“…The use of divergent and multiple information dissemination sources should remain a focus towards improving awareness related to breast cancer, especially in most deprived areas (rural areas). Also, promoting the discussion of breast cancer issues in primary healthcare facilities will be key in mitigating the deterrent effect of these barriers [ 43 ]. Also, incorporating breast cancer education in primary healthcare systems will remain essential in promoting access to this information as distance to health facility was found to influence women’s level of awareness.…”

Pharmacological mechanisms on the anti-breast cancer property of Coix lacryma-jobi: A network-based analysis

“…In male, breast cancer is a rare condition (Darre et al, 2020) that accounts for less than 1% of all cancers in men breast (Giordano et al, 2018) and less than 1% of all diagnosed cancers (Perkins, 2003). However, an escalation of number of breast cancer-diagnosed men have been reported, although at a lower rate (De Carmen et al, 2021). Generally, breast cancer poses high morbidity and mortality rate worldwide and cause serious health threat (Fang et al, 2020).…”

The “Breast-4Y” web app for breast cancer prevention at young age: Development, evaluation, and validation

“…However, many women younger than 50 years old are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Spain ( Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica, 2022 ). This lack of preventive programs deprives young women of the advantage of being able to access information, which highlights its priority to allow breast cancer early prevention in this population ( Del Carmen et al, 2021 ). Thus, the aim of the present study was to develop and to assess the usability and quality of a web-app (Breast-4Y) designed specifically for younger women to improve their knowledge about breast cancer risk factors and symptoms as well as protective behaviors to reduce their risk.…”