Purpose: Mammography screening (MS) is an underutilized screening tool; although it is
provided free of charge to the Saudi community. The present study aimed at assessing
knowledge and barriers of mammography screening among women attending primary health
centers in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 423 women aged
41–75 years attending ten primary health centers in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. Structured
interviewing questionnaires were used for data collection. SPSS program, version 24 was
used for data analysis.
Results: The least reported risk factors of BC in this study were early menarche (14.9%),
first pregnancy after the age of 30 years (18%), and late menopause (18.7%). Concerning
knowledge of MS, 50.8% of the women correctly identified that mammogram is the ideal
method for detecting BC. The most encountered personal barriers towards MS were lack of
information about mammogram (69.5%), fear of exposure to radiation (67.4%), fear of
discovery of BC (62.9%), being busy all the time (62.2%), and fear of cancer treatment
(61.9%). Regarding economic barriers, 40% of the participants reported that taking sick
leave from work is difficult while 37.8% revealed that mammogram is costly. Concerning
health system barriers, the most common barriers were fear of error in diagnosis (62.6%),
long time to take medical appointment (57%), and preferring not to have a mammogram
except after a doctor recommendation (52.7%). The present study showed that women’s
education and residence significantly predicted their knowledge. Furthermore, women’s
education and income significantly predicted their barriers towards MS.
Conclusion: Many barriers toward mammography screening were encountered in the
present study. Addressing these barriers and raising awareness about MS may be of great
value to increase its uptake by Saudi women.