Challenges Faced by Health Care Providers in Dealing with Iranian Women’s Fear of Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cause of death in Asiancountries, especially in Iran. The current solution, to increase survival andreduce complications, is the early diagnosis of breast cancer. However, fearof the disease is a deterrent to adopting preventive modes of behavior. Thisstudy aims to explore the fears faced by healthy women in Yazd, Iran. Italso looks at ways in which health care providers deal with this challengingissue.Methods: This study is a directed qualitative content analysis. Theresearchers conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with 14 women agedbetween 40 and 65 years. These women were selected through purposefulsampling. The contents of interviews were divided into meaning units afterentry into the MAXQDA software. The qualitative analysis was performedaccording to the protection motivation theory.Results: The main issue, derived from the qualitative content analysis, iscalled ―infiltrated fear.‖ The participants experienced indescribable horroron hearing the word ―cancer.‖ They believed that fear of cancer is morelethal than the cancer itself. Various underlying causes of this fear wereexpressed. These included gradual death, burning in the fiery furnace ofpain, lack of social support, fear of relatives becoming infected, type ofcancer, time of diagnosis, and the insidious nature of the disease.Conclusion: Irrational fear can be replaced by managed fear through somestrategies. These include information provided by consultants, helpfulrelationships with peers, and survivors re-telling their personal experiences.In Islamic doctrine, prophets used promises and warnings as strategy. Therewas an emphasis on promises. Women can be encouraged to voluntarilyadopt preventive modes of behavior by using these strategies.

کلیدواژه ها:

Fear ، Qualitative ، Content Analysis ، Personnel ، Breast Neoplasms