Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publication Date
10-1-2022
Abstract
(1) Background: Breast cancer (BC) shows significant epidemiological differences between Eastern and Western countries. These may arise from socio-cultural factors influencing how healthy young women perceive this condition, their risk of getting cancer, and the implications for preventive screening behaviors. In this study, the illness perceptions, individual risk perception, compared risk, and beliefs about preventive behaviors for BC of female university students were compared using an anonymous online survey between a European country (Portugal) and the United Arab Emirates. (2) Method: A structural equation model (SEM) was developed to investigate the hypothetical relationship between illness perceptions and compared risk as predictors of perceived risk for BC. (3) Results: There were significant differences between the study variables. The SEM was invariant, but the differences between regression coefficients in both countries were highly statistically significant. Mediation analyses revealed a significant indirect effect of compared risk on individual risk and a significantly stronger direct effect for the Emirati sample. (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that cultural research may help to explain factors that may shape social comparison of individual risk characteristics and influence perceived risk. Moreover, providing culturally appropriate strategies to be designed and implemented can promote early detection behaviors for BC.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
MDPI AG
Volume
19
Issue
19
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Keywords
breast cancer, compared risk, cultural context, illness perceptions, risk perception
Scopus ID
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Figueiras, Maria J.; Neto, David Dias; Marôco, Joao; and Carmo, Catarina, "How Do Healthy Women Perceive the Risk of Breast Cancer? The Role of Illness Perceptions and Compared Risk between Portugal and the U.A.E" (2022). All Works. 5426.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/5426
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series