Breaking Barriers: Spousal Perceptions and Role in Promoting Breast Cancer Screening

Background: Spouses can play a role in supporting and motivating their wives’ uptake of breast cancer screening. Methods: We first establish the reasons for mammography screening attendance in women with no history of breast cancer (n=3,395) through a structured questionnaire. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 19 husbands of women with no history of breast cancer. The FGD prompts included questions on husbands’ attitudes towards mammography screening, their roles in their wives’ health, and their opinions on risk-based screening. Four FGDs with 4 to 7 participants were transcribed, coded, and thematically analysed. Results: The analysis of the FGD’s revealed six key themes on husbands’ (median age 41 years) attitudes towards women’s breast cancer screening practices: Awareness of breast health, priorities, social support structures, fears, incentives, and attitudes towards risk-based screening, which were supported by the questionnaire data. Husbands were interested in their wives’ health and assisted in appointments. However, they lacked awareness towards breast health and screening, thus limiting their influence. There were themes identified in the questionnaire data that were not brought up in the FGDs, suggesting a possible lack of communication and sharing of health-related information between spouses. Husbands generally accepted breast cancer risk-based screening but highlighted some concerns including the frequency of testing and the interpretation of results. Conclusion: Extrinsic motivation from a spouse can play a crucial role in overcoming barriers, addressing fears or anxieties, and ultimately increasing the likelihood of the individual undergoing mammography screening.