Factors Influencing Breast Cancer Awareness in Rural Southwest China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of Participants

Characteristics	Subgroup	No.	Proportion (%)
Age
	<35 years old	96	6.5
	35~50 years old	451	30.7
	>50 years old	921	62.7
Marital Status
	Married	1435	97.8
	Unmarried/divorced/widowed	33	2.2
Education level
	Elementary School and below	755	51.4
	Junior/Senior High School	629	42.8
	College and above	84	5.7
Occupation
	Housewife/Unemployed	560	38.1
	Manual laborer	683	46.5
	Brain workers	101	6.9
	Commercial workers	124	8.4
Medical Payment Methods
	Self-funded	22	1.5
	Medical treatment for urban employees	109	7.4
	Urban residents’ medical care	33	2.2
	New Rural Cooperative Medical Care	1304	88.8
Age at menarche
	12 years old and below	191	13.0
	13–16 years old	952	64.9
	17 years old and above	325	22.1
Number of abortions*
	0	457	31.1
	1–2 times	822	56.0
	3 times and above	181	12.3
Breastfeeding
	None	76	5.2
	6 months and under	140	9.5
	7~12 months	1055	71.9
	13 months or more	197	13.4
Contraceptive measures*
	No contraception	954	65.0
	Oral contraceptives	11	0.7
	Condoms	136	9.3
	Intrauterine device (IUD)	336	22.9
	Tubal or vasectomy	30	2.0
taking oral hormone medication
	Yes	52	3.5
	No	1416	96.5
History of breast disease
	Yes	172	11.7
	No	1296	88.3
Smoking
	Yes	19	1.3
	No	1449	98.7
Drinking alcohol
	Yes	227	15.4
	No	1241	84.5

Notes: *There are missing values.

Table 2 Scores and Awareness Rates of Different Dimensions of C-BCAM Questionnaire in Whole Population

Domains	Minimum* Score	Maximum* Score	Full Score**	Median Score (IQR)	Awareness Rate (%)
Total Score	33	108	0–108	73.0(66.0,82.0)	79.0
Knowledge of symptoms	4	15	0–15	12.0(8.00,15.0)	68.8
Barriers to Seeking Medical Help	0	18	0–18	18.0(18.0,18.0)	98.4
Knowledge of risk factors	19	75	0–75	46.0(38.0,51.0)	62.1

Notes: *The lowest and highest scores in this study. **Scorable range for this study.

Table 3 Univariate Analysis of Knowledge Rate and Awareness of Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Characteristics		No. of Aware People (Awareness Rate) n (%)	C-BCAM Scores M (Q1, Q3)	χ^2	P
Age
	<35 years old	81(84.4)	76.0(70.0,84.0)	9.999	0.007*
	35~50 years old	375(83.1)	75.0(68.0,83.0)
	>50 years old	704(76.4)	71.0(65.0,81.0)
Marital Status Married
	Married	1135(79.1)	66.0(59.0,82.0)	0.217	0.642
	Unmarried/divorced/widowed	25(75.8)	72.0(64.5,82.5)
Education level Below
	Elementary School and below	547(72.5)	69.0(64.0,80.0)	43.177	<0.001*
	Junior/Senior High School	535(85.1)	75.0(68.0,83.0)
	College and above	78(92.9)	81.0(74.0,88.8)
Occupation
	Housewife/Unemployed	452(80.7)	74.0(67.0,82.0)	9.921	0.019*
	Manual laborer	518(75.8)	70.0(65.0,80.0)
	Brain workers	88(87.1)	80.0(71.5,86.0)
	Commercial workers	102(82.3)	78.0(69.0,84.0)
Medical Payment Methods
	Self-funded	16(72.7)	70.5(64.0,75.3)	4.362	0.225
	Medical treatment for urban employees	94(86.2)	79.0(72.5,84.0)
	Urban residents’ medical care	27(81.8)	74.0(67.5,83.0)
	New Rural Cooperative Medical Care	1023(78.5)	72.0(66.0,82.0)
Age at menarche				7.882	0.019*
	12 years old and below	151(79.1)	73.5(65.0,82.0)
	13–16 years old	770(80.9)	67.0(59.0,74.0)
	17 years old and above	239(73.5)	64.0(57.0,70.0)
Number of abortions				3.656	0.161
	0	347(75.9)	70.0(65.0,81.0)
	1–2 times	658(80.0)	74.0(67.0,82.0)
	3 times and above	147(81.2)	73.0(67.0,82.0)
Breastfeeding				4.068	0.254
	None	57(75.0)	70.5(64.0,78.3)
	6 months and under	119(85.0)	76.0(67.3,85.0)
	7~12 months	827(78.4)	73.0(66.0,82.0)
	13 months or more	157(79.7)	72.0(66.0,81.0)
Contraceptive measures				21.069	<0.001*
	No contraception	764(80.1)	73.0(66.0,82.0)
	Oral contraceptives	8(72.7)	67.0(61.0,74.0)
	Condoms	122(89.7)	76.0(71.0,84.8)
	Intrauterine device	241(71.7)	71.0(64.0,80.0)
	Tubal or vasectomy	24(80.0)	71.0(65.0,83.4)
Taking oral hormone medication				0.525	0.469
	Yes	39(75.0)	74.0(64.0,82.0)
	No	1121(79.2)	73.0(66.0,82.0)
History of breast disease				12.995	<0.001*
	Yes	154(89.5)	76.0(68.5,83.0)
	No	1006(77.6)	73.0(66.0,82.0)
Smoking				1.269	0.260
	Yes	17(89.5)	76.0(68.5,83.0)
	No	1143(78.9)	73.0(66.0,82.0)
Drinking alcohol				0.358	0.550
	Yes	176(77.5)	72.0(65.0,82.0)
	No	984(79.3)	73.0(66.0,82.0)

Note: *P<0.05.

Table 4 Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis of Breast Cancer Awareness Level

Factors		OR (95% CI)	P
Contraceptive measures
	No contraception	Reference
	Oral contraceptives	0.434(0.106~1.771)	0.244
	Condoms	1.316(0.677~2.5557)	0.419
	Intrauterine device	0.523(0.384~0.712)	<0.001*
	Tubal or vasectomy	1.063(0.422~2.676)	0.897
Education
	Primary school and below	Reference
	Junior/Senior High School	2.155(1.585~2.928)	<0.001*
	College and above	5.536(1.898~16.148)	0.002*
History of breast disease
	No	Reference
	Yes	1.907(1.128~3.223)	0.016*
Age
	<35 years old	Reference
	35~50 years old	1.465(0.752~2.855)	0.262
	>50 years old	1.219(0.612~2.428)	0.573
Age at menarche
	12 years old and below	Reference
	13–16 years old	1.173(0.784~1.755)	0.438
	17 years old and above	0.999(0.626~1.595)	0.997

Note: *P<0.05.