Cancer awareness among married middle-aged women in Tehran, 1395

Background: Many studies have shown low rate of cancer awareness in Iranian women. Knowing about cancer is related to many personal and environmental factors that clearly are related to health literacy and degree of accessibility to health information among target groups. This study is seeking the relationships between cancer awareness and personal factors in a sample of Iranian married women. Methods: Data were collected using a convenience sampling method from 73 women between 30 and 50 years old, recruited from an urban health center in Tehran. Cancer awareness was assessed using a modified version of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM). Results: Women’s cancer awareness was low. About 50% did not know the most common symptoms of cancers and most (71%) believed cancer was unrelated to age. Awareness of cancer symptoms was significantly higher among older women, aged 40–50 years (p = 0.003) and those who have at least a close relative with cancer (p < 0.001). Conclusion: There are groups of women with poor cancer awareness. Cancer messages need to be fit and tailored to particular groups with the aim of prevent the fears of cancer in potential at risk target groups. Interventions to raise women’ cancer awareness have benefits for families and community to decrease the fears of cancer.