Title:
Factors influencing Breast Cancer Screening Program Utilization in Georgia among Women aged 40-70
Authors:
Skhirtladze, Tamar
Place:
Amsterdam
Publisher:
KIT - Royal Tropical Institute [etc.]
Year:
2017
PAGE:
vi, 30
Language:
En
Subject:
Health and Poverty
Keywords:
breast cancer, screening, utilization, women, Georgia
Abstract:
Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of death among women in Georgia. In 2012 mortality rate for BC among women was 13.2 per 100,000. Despite the free BC screening services that government provides for women aged 40-70, most cases are diagnosed at late stages, when the treatment is more expensive, complicated and less successful. Overall objective: Explore the main factors influencing the target population coverage level in BC screening program in Georgia, in order to provide recommendation to policy makers on BC screening services. Methodology: Secondary data from NSC are used to describe and analyse the women participation level, distribution of screened women by age and regions in BC screening program. Health care providers were interviewed to explore factors for service utilization. Relevant literature were reviewed. Conceptual framework adopted from Andersen behavioural model and Peters et al., model was used to analyse the findings. Findings: The highest number of screened women are aged 40-49 years, followed by elder age groups. Coverage level significantly differs across the regions. Main facilitating factors for service use were outlined as: quality of services, qualified staff and other, while barriers were defined as low awareness, invalid invitation/recall system, and the low involvement of General Practitioners (GP). Conclusion: additional efforts should be made to enrol more women in the BC screening program. Aside from raising target population awareness, coverage level and consequently the effectiveness of the screening program could be improved in Georgia by recruiting more women through reaching them invitation letters or the involvement of GPs.
Organization:
KIT - Royal Tropical Institute
,
VU - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Institute:
KIT (Royal Tropical Institute)
Country:
Georgia
Region:
Central between West Asia and East Europe
Training:
Master of Public Health
Category:
Research
Right:
@ 2017 Skhirtladze
Document type:
Thesis/dissertation
File:
olFHcYlyWM_20180415142855740.pdf