Knowledge, Attitudes, and Barriers to Mammogram Screening Among Northern Saudi Women: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study
Keywords:
breast cancer, mammogram screening, Saudi Arabia, knowledge, barriers, public health, conservative societies
Abstract
Mammogram screening (MS) is the most effective method for the early detection of breast cancer (BC), yet uptake of MS is low in Saudi Arabia, especially in traditional regions. This cross-sectional study examined 400 women in Aljouf Province in Saudi Arabia from September 2022 to February 2023 regarding BC knowledge, attitudes toward MS, and perceived barriers to participating in MS. Of the women surveyed, 56.3% had low to medium levels of knowledge of BC, which was significantly related to higher education levels and a history of BC in the family. Most notable barriers to participating in MS included fear of BC diagnosis (50.8%), fear of examination procedures, and cultural issues, notably, becoming embarrassed.
Downloads
How to Cite
References
J Ferlay, M Ervik, F Lam, M Laversanne, M Colombet, L Mery, M Piñeros, A Znaor, I Soerjomataram, F Bray (2025) Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today.
Isabelle Soerjomataram, Citadel Cabasag, Aude Bardot, Miranda Fidler-Benaoudia, Adalberto Miranda-Filho, Jacques Ferlay, Donald Parkin, Rama Ranganathan, Marion Piñeros, Ariana Znaor, Les Mery, Yvonne Joko-Fru, Rajesh Dikshit, Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, Rajaraman Swaminathan, Freddie Bray (2023) Cancer survival in Africa, central and south America, and Asia (SURVCAN-3): a population-based benchmarking study in 32 countries. 24(1), 22-32.
Claudia Allemani, Tomohiro Matsuda, Veronica Di Carlo, Rhea Harewood, Melissa Matz, Maja Nikšić, Audrey Bonaventure, Mikhail Valkov, Christopher Johnson, Jacques Estève, Olufemi Ogunbiyi, Gulnar Azevedo E Silva, Wan-Qing Chen, Sultan Eser, Gerda Engholm, Charles Stiller, Alain Monnereau, Ryan Woods, Otto Visser, Gek Lim, Joanne Aitken, Hannah Weir, Michel Coleman, S Bouzbid, M Hamdi-Chérif, Z Zaidi, K Meguenni, D Regagba, S Bayo, T Cheick Bougadari, S Manraj, K Bendahhou, A Fabowale, D Bradshaw, N Somdyala, I Kumcher, F Moreno, G Calabrano, S Espinola, B Carballo Quintero, R Fita, M Diumenjo, W Laspada, S Ibañez, C Lima, P De Souza, K Del Pino, C Laporte, M Curado, J De Oliveira, C Veneziano, D Veneziano, M Latorre, L Tanaka, M Rebelo, M Santos, J Galaz, M Aparicio Aravena, J Sanhueza Monsalve, D Herrmann, S Vargas, V Herrera, C Uribe, L Bravo, L Garcia, N Arias-Ortiz, D Morantes, D Jurado, M Yépez Chamorro, S Delgado, M Ramirez, Y Galán Alvarez, P Torres, F Martínez-Reyes, L Jaramillo, R Quinto, J Castillo, M Mendoza, P Cueva, J Yépez, B Bhakkan, J Deloumeaux, C Joachim, J Macni, R Carrillo, J Shalkow Klincovstein, R Rivera Gomez, E Poquioma, G Tortolero-Luna, D Zavala, R Alonso, E Barrios, A Eckstrand, C Nikiforuk, G Noonan, D Turner, E Kumar, B Zhang, F Mccrate, S Ryan, M Macintyre, N Saint-Jacques, D Nishri, C Mcclure, K Vriends, S Kozie, H Stuart-Panko, T Freeman, J George, J Brockhouse, D O'brien, A Holt, L Almon, S Kwong, C Morris, R Rycroft, L Mueller, C Phillips, H Brown, B Cromartie, A Schwartz, F Vigneau, G Levin, B Wohler, R Bayakly, K Ward, S Gomez, M Mckinley, R Cress, M Green, K Miyagi, L Ruppert, C Lynch, B Huang, T Tucker, D Deapen, L Liu, M Hsieh, X Wu, M Schwenn, S Gershman, R Knowlton, G Alverson, G Copeland, S Bushhouse, D Rogers, J Jackson-Thompson, D Lemons, H Zimmerman, M Hood, J Roberts-Johnson, J Rees, B Riddle, K Pawlish, A Stroup, C Key, C Wiggins, A Kahn, M Schymura, S Radhakrishnan, C Rao, L Giljahn, R Slocumb, R Espinoza, F Khan, K Aird, T Beran, J Rubertone, S Slack, L Garcia, D Rousseau, T Janes, S Schwartz, S Bolick, D Hurley, M Whiteside, P Miller-Gianturco, M Williams, K Herget, C Sweeney, A Johnson, M Keitheri Cheteri, P Migliore Santiago, S Blankenship, S Farley, R Borchers, R Malicki, J Espinoza, J Grandpre, R Wilson, B Edwards, A Mariotto, Y Lei, N Wang, J Chen, Y Zhou, Y He, G Song, X Gu, D Mei, H Mu, H Ge, T Wu, Y Li, D Zhao, F Jin, J Zhang, F Zhu, Q Junhua, Y Yang, C Jiang, W Biao, J Wang, Q Li, H Yi, X Zhou, J Dong, W Li, F Fu, S Liu, J Chen, J Zhu, Y Li, Y Lu, M Fan, S Huang, G Guo, H Zhaolai, K Wei, H Zeng, A Demetriou, W Mang, K Ngan, A Kataki, M Krishnatreya, P Jayalekshmi, P Sebastian, A Nandakumar, R Malekzadeh, G Roshandel, L Keinan-Boker, B Silverman, H Ito, H Nakagawa, M Sato, F Tobori, I Nakata, N Teramoto, M Hattori, Y Kaizaki, F Moki, H Sugiyama, M Utada, M Nishimura, K Yoshida, K Kurosawa, Y Nemoto, H Narimatsu, M Sakaguchi, S Kanemura, M Naito, R Narisawa, I Miyashiro, K Nakata, S Sato, M Yoshii, I Oki, N Fukushima, A Shibata, K Iwasa, C Ono, O Nimri, K Jung, Y Won, E Alawadhi, A Elbasmi, A Ab Manan, F Adam, E Sanjaajmats, U Tudev, C Ochir, A Al Khater, M El Mistiri, Y Teo, C Chiang, W Lee, R Buasom, S Sangrajrang, S Kamsa-Ard, S Wiangnon, K Daoprasert, D Pongnikorn, A Leklob, S Sangkitipaiboon, S Geater, H Sriplung, O Ceylan, I Kög, O Dirican, T Köse, T Gurbuz, F Karaşahin, D Turhan, U Aktaş, Y Halat, C Yakut, M Altinisik, Y Cavusoglu, A Türkköylü, N Üçüncü, M Hackl, A Zborovskaya, O Aleinikova, K Henau, L Van Eycken, Z Valerianova, M Yordanova, M Šekerija, L Dušek, M Zvolský, H Storm, K Innos, M Mägi, N Malila, K Seppä, J Jégu, M Velten, E Cornet, X Troussard, A Bouvier, A Guizard, V Bouvier, G Launoy, P Arveux, M Maynadié, M Mounier, A Woronoff, M Daoulas, M Robaszkiewicz, J Clavel, S Goujon, B Lacour, I Baldi, C Pouchieu, B Amadeo, G Coureau, S Orazio, P Preux, F Rharbaoui, E Marrer, B Trétarre, M Colonna, P Delafosse, K Ligier, S Plouvier, A Cowppli-Bony, F Molinié, S Bara, O Ganry, B Lapôtre-Ledoux, P Grosclaude, N Bossard, Z Uhry, F Bray, M Piñeros, R Stabenow, H Wilsdorf-Köhler, A Eberle, S Luttmann, I Löhden, A Nennecke, J Kieschke, E Sirri, K Emrich, S Zeissig, B Holleczek, N Eisemann, A Katalinic, R Asquez, V Kumar, E Petridou, E Ólafsdóttir, L Tryggvadóttir, K Clough-Gorr, P Walsh, H Sundseth, G Mazzoleni, F Vittadello, E Coviello, F Cuccaro, R Galasso, G Sampietro, A Giacomin, M Magoni, A Ardizzone, A D'argenzio, M Castaing, G Grosso, A Lavecchia, A Sutera Sardo, G Gola, L Gatti, P Ricci, S Ferretti, D Serraino, A Zucchetto, M Celesia, R Filiberti, F Pannozzo, A Melcarne, F Quarta, A Russo, G Carrozzi, C Cirilli, L Cavalieri D'oro, M Rognoni, M Fusco, M Vitale, M Usala, R Cusimano, W Mazzucco, M Michiara, P Sgargi, L Boschetti, E Borciani, P Seghini, M Maule, F Merletti, R Tumino, P Mancuso, M Vicentini, T Cassetti, R Sassatelli, F Falcini, S Giorgetti, A Caiazzo, R Cavallo, R Cesaraccio, D Pirino, M Contrino, F Tisano, A Fanetti, S Maspero, S Carone, A Mincuzzi, G Candela, T Scuderi, M Gentilini, S Piffer, S Rosso, A Barchielli, A Caldarella, F Bianconi, F Stracci, P Contiero, G Tagliabue, M Rugge, M Zorzi, S Beggiato, A Brustolin, F Berrino, G Gatta, M Sant, C Buzzoni, L Mangone, R Capocaccia, R De Angelis, R Zanetti, A Maurina, S Pildava, N Lipunova, I Vincerževskiené, D Agius, N Calleja, S Siesling, S Larønningen, B Møller, A Dyzmann-Sroka, M Trojanowski, S Góźdź, R Mężyk, T Mierzwa, L Molong, J Rachtan, S Szewczyk, J Błaszczyk, K Kępska, B Kościańska, K Tarocińska, M Zwierko, K Drosik, K Maksimowicz, E Purwin-Porowska, E Reca, J Wójcik-Tomaszewska, A Tukiendorf, M Grądalska-Lampart, A Radziszewska, A Gos, M Talerczyk, M Wyborska, J Didkowska, U Wojciechowska, M Bielska-Lasota, G Forjaz De Lacerda, R Rego, J Bastos, M Silva, L Antunes, J Laranja Pontes, A Mayer-Da-Silva, A Miranda, L Blaga, D Coza, L Gusenkova, O Lazarevich, O Prudnikova, D Vjushkov, A Egorova, A Orlov, L Kudyakov, L Pikalova, J Adamcik, C Safaei Diba, M Primic-Žakelj, V Zadnik, N Larrañaga, A Lopez De Munain, A Herrera, R Redondas, R Marcos-Gragera, M Vilardell Gil, E Molina, M Sánchez Perez, P Franch Sureda, M Ramos Montserrat, M Chirlaque, C Navarro, E Ardanaz, M Guevara, R Fernández-Delgado, R Peris-Bonet, M Carulla, J Galceran, C Alberich, M Vicente-Raneda, S Khan, D Pettersson, P Dickman, I Avelina, K Staehelin, B Camey, C Bouchardy, R Schaffar, H Frick, C Herrmann, J Bulliard, M Maspoli-Conconi, C Kuehni, S Redmond, A Bordoni, L Ortelli, A Chiolero, I Konzelmann, K Matthes, S Rohrmann, J Broggio, J Rashbass, D Fitzpatrick, A Gavin, D Clark, A Deas, D Huws, C White, L Montel, B Rachet, A Turculet, R Stephens, E Chalker, H Phung, R Walton, H You, S Guthridge, F Johnson, P Gordon, K D'onise, K Priest, B Stokes, A Venn, H Farrugia, V Thursfield, J Dowling, D Currow, J Hendrix, C Lewis (2018) Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000-14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37 513 025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries. 391(10125), 1023-1075.
Ahmed Al Zomia, Ibrahim Al Zehefa, Lama Lahiq, Mohammed Mirdad, Abdullah Alshahrani, Turki Alshahrani, Nawaf Almahfuth, Mahmoud Mirdad, Albara Alqarni, Noor Alshareef, Ryan Al Qahtani, Mohammed Asiri, Mohammed Alshahrani, Ramy Ghazy, Ibrahim Tawhari (2024) Tracking the epidemiological trends of female breast cancer in Saudi Arabia since 1990 and forecasting future statistics using global burden of disease data, time-series analysis. 24(1), 1953.
(2024) Breast cancer. Fact Sheets.
Mohammed Abdullah Alzahrani, Ramzi Alzahrani, Abdulaziz Alzahrani, Amal Faraj Hassan, Abdulaziz Alqahtani, Ibrahim Alarifi, Ahmed N Almutairi, Norah A Shayu, Ahmad Omar Taha, Yasir Ayidh Alharbi, Fatimah Howaidi, Mawtah Buayti (2025) Enhancing Symptom Management and Coordination of Breast Cancer Care at Secondary Hospitals in Saudi Arabia. 03(11).
B Sprague, S Nowak, T Ahern, S Herschorn, P Kaufman, C Odde (2024) Long-term Mammography Screening Trends and Predictors of Return to Screening after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Statewide Registry. 6(3), 230161.
Reem Alsalamh, Faisal Al-Harbi, Rawan Alotaibi, Omar Al-Harbi, Nada Alshahrani, Saleh Alfadhel, Eyad Fatani, Abdulaziz Al-Harbi, Razan Lasloom, Rayan Alzahrani (2024) Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. 16(7), 65103.
Mohammad Hoq, Shamima Jahan, Md. Mahmud, Md. Hasan, M Jakaria (2024) Breast cancer screening awareness, practice, and perceived barriers: A community‐based cross‐sectional study among women in south‐eastern Bangladesh. 7(1), 1799.
T Kathrikolly, R Shetty, S Nair (2020) Opportunities and Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening in a Rural Community in Coastal Karnataka, India: A Qualitative Analysis. 21(9), 2569-2575.
Zunaira Shoukat, Ali Shah (2023) Breast Cancer Awareness and Associated Factors among Women in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study. 24(5), 1561-1570.
Victoria Peacey, Andrew Steptoe, Sigurlína Davídsdóttir, Adriana Baban, Jane Wardle (2006) Low levels of breast cancer risk awareness in young women: An international survey. 42(15), 2585-2589.
S Dey, A Mishra, J Govil, P Dhillon (2015) Breast Cancer Awareness at the Community Level among Women in Delhi, India. 16(13), 5243-5251.
N Abdullah, N Baharudin, M Mohamad, Mohamed-Yassin Ms (2022) Factors Associated with Screening Mammogram Uptake among Women Attending an Urban University Primary Care Clinic in Malaysia. 19(10), 6103.
K Rothman, S Greenland (2008) Modern Epidemiology.
W Cochran (1977) Sampling Techniques.
B Bloom (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals.
(2013) World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. 310(20), 2191.
M Rehman, E Tahir, H Hussain, A Khalid, S Taqi, E Meenai (2024) Awareness regarding breast cancer amongst women in Pakistan: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 19(3), 298-0275.
Angelina Joho, Mwajuma Mdoe, Theresia Masoi, James Yahaya (2024) Perceived barriers and factors influencing uptake of breast cancer screening among women: a population-based cross-sectional study. 14(1), 12-291.
Anietie Aliu, Robert Kerrison, Afrodita Marcu (2025) A Systematic Review of Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening, and of Interventions Designed to Increase Participation, Among Women of Black African and Black Caribbean Descent in the UK. 34(2), 70093.
(2025) Summary of national statistics (Eurostat).
Maram Abbas, Mirza Baig (2023) Knowledge and Practice Concerning Breast Cancer Risk Factors and Screening among Females in UAE. 24(2), 479-487.
Published
2025-08-05
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Authors and Global Journals Private Limited
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.