Awareness about breast and cervical cancer screening among middle and old age women in rural areas of Shandong province

Objective To examine the awareness about the screening of breast and cervical cancer among the middle-aged and old women living in countryside and to provide evidences for making effective health education programs.Methods Totally 600 rural women aged 35-60 years were selected from 3 counties in Shandong province with stratified random cluster sampling and surveyed face-to-face with a self-designed questionnaire between July and September 2014.Results The awareness rate of breast and cervical cancer screening in the women was 67.7%(406/600)and the rate differed significantly among the women in different counties (74%154/208for those in Ju'nan,69.5%137/19for Liangshan,and 59%115/195for Pingyin)(P=0.004).After adjusting for other influencing factors,the women in Ju'nan and Liangshan had significantly higher awareness rate compared to those in Pingyin county,with the odds ratio (OR) of 1.839 (95% confidence interval95%CI=1.181-2.874;P=0.007)and 1.546 (95%CI=0.959-2.492;P=0.074).Other significant influencing factors of the awareness rate included the use of intrauterine devices (OR=1.548,95%CI=1.070-2.240)and menopause(OR=0.545,95%CI=0.377-0.789).The main way of for the women to know the screening service was through the notification of villagers committees (85.4%,345/600).Conclusion The conduct of pilot program for breast and cervical cancer screening free of charge could increase the awareness rate about the screening among rural women and promote villagers committee playing a key role in the propaganda of the screening program.