A Correlational Study on Perceptions of Vulnerability and Women’s Behavioural Dispositions to Breast Cancer: Implication for Sustainable Development in Nigeria
No Thumbnail Available
Date
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Description
This paper examined a correlation between the perception of vulnerability and
women’s behavioural dispositions to breast cancer within the context of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ogun State, Nigeria. Therefore, this
paper, in its objective, examined i) the relationship between women’s reaction
to breast cancer and ii) the nexus between women’s attitude towards breast
cancer screening and worry about having breast cancer. The study made use of
the health belief model (HBM) in its theoretical framework. The paper adopted
a descriptive cross-sectional research design using mixed methods of data
collection. A self-administered questionnaire, in-depth inter-views (IDIs) and
key informant interview (KII) guides were the instruments adopted. A sample
size of 1 000 women was randomly selected using four multi-stage sampling
techniques for quantitative data, while for the qualitative data 20 respondents were purposively selected, using snowballing for IDIs, and a convenience
sampling technique for the KIIs among close family members, acquaintances
of breast cancer patients and health service providers in the study area. The
quantitative data were analysed using frequency distribution (univariate analysis)
while chi-square (χ2) was utilised for the bi-variate analysis. Content analysis
was adopted to analyse the qualitative data. Findings revealed that there
is a significant relationship between women’s reaction to unusual breast cancer
change and worry about having breast cancer as well as a significant relationship
between women attitude towards breast cancer screening and worrying
about having breast cancer. The paper however, concludes among others that
health education policies and programmes should be mapped out to address
issues surrounding the perception of vulnerability and women’s behavioural
dispositions towards breast cancer in Ogun State sufficiently so that Nigeria
will be a step closer to the realization of the development that is equitable,
feasible and sustainable for all.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), HM Sociology