Predictors of the Intention to Perform Preventive Behaviors Against the Occurrence of Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. The purpose of study was to determine the predictors of the intention to perform preventive behaviors against the occurrence of breast cancer (BC) based on the protection motivation theory (PMT). Methods: This research was a cross-sectional study that was conducted on 400 women aged 18 to 70 living in Babol city with a multi-stage sampling method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire containing demographic information, questions on BC risk factors based on the constructs of PMT. data was entered into SPSS V20 and analyzed with chi-square, independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation-test and linear regression at a significance level of 0.05. Results: More than of the participants were single. 66% of participants had no risk factors, 12.5% had one risk factor, 7.5% had three risk factors, and 1.5% had more than four risk factors. The strongest predictors of the intention to perform preventive behaviors against BC were perceived severity (β = 0.280), number of risk factors (β = 0.206), death of a relative due to BC (β = 0.147), and self-efficacy (β = 0.141). Among PMT constructs, perceived severity and self-efficacy constructs were the strongest predictors of preventive behaviors against BC. Conclusion: The PMT plays an important predictive role in the intention to perform cancer prevention behaviors. In this context, it is necessary to design and implement training programs based on these constructs of this model, especially the perceived intensity, self-efficacy and response efficiency.