THE RISK LEVEL OF BREAST CANCER AT THE WORKING WOMEN

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common malign tumour all over the world, and it accounts for about 25% of all cancer in women. This study was conducted to find out the level of breast cancer risk of the women who work in Mugla University. Materials and Methods: The women who work in Mugla University in 2008 constitute the universe of this descriptive study (N=512). The sampling methot was not used here, instead 324 volunteer or avialable women were covered (rate of participation: 63.2%). The data were collected through "Individual Properties Form" and "Breast Cancer Risk Assesment Scala". The data were evaluated by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 11.0 programme using descriptive analysis. Oral permission from the participants and the offical permission from the institution was obtained. Results: The average age of the women covered in the study was 34.39 +/- 6.46 (min-maks: 21-50), 52% (n=169) of whom were office staff and 47.8% (n=155) worked as academicians and 67% were married. The average value of the total breast cancer risk is 113 +/- 45.79. Of the subjects, 96.3% (n=312) were found to be at low risk, 3,1% (n=10) at moderate risk, 0,3% (n=1) at high risk and 0,3% (n=1) at extremely high risk of breast cancer. Discussion: It is possible to say that 3,7% (n=12) of the women included in the study are at risk of breast cancer. It is recommended that the risk groups should be observed and all the women should develop healthy lifestyle behaviours.