Ošetřovatelské perspektivy 2018, 1(2):39-46 | DOI: 10.25142/osp.2018.015

PREVENTION OF BREAST CANCER IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Lucie Mráčková¹, Helena Kisvetrová¹

¹ Centrum vědy a výzkumu, Fakulta zdravotnických věd, Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci

This article discusses the state of breast cancer screening in the Czech Republic and other European countries. We base our discussion on the need for continuous education of women in breast self-care, but above all their participation in the screening program. The aim of the study is to map the current occupancy of the screening program in the endangered group of women and to find out what breast cancer screening options are currently available in the Czech Republic. A search strategy was used at domestic and foreign databases by using keywords and Boolean operators. The results showed that the rate of participation in the screening program has stagnated in recent years, although it has increased several fold since its introduction in 2002. The goal of the screening program is an 80 % participation rate. From the available sources, the rate of participation in the Czech Republic was 62.80 %, which is positive for mortality, which has a slightly decreasing trend, although the incidence of breast cancer is growing dramatically. As part of the Breast and Testicle Prevention Project, a survey was conducted between women in productive and postmenopausal periods. The results of the survey showed that there is a need to constantly intervene on women in self-care, especially among younger women. The conclusion is that the state of the screening program in the Czech Republic is at a good level. Still, the public needs to be informed about the risk factors for cancer – not just breast cancer – and effort has to be made to persuade women to visit physicians regularly and take health in their own hands, including self-examination at least once a month.

Keywords: prevention, screening, breast cancer, self-examination, appearance, mortality, participation, Czech Republic

Received: September 11, 2018; Accepted: November 7, 2018; Published: March 7, 2019  Show citation