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The Effect of Health Education Given to Syrian Refugee Women in Their Own Language on Awareness of Breast and Cervical Cancer, in Turkey: a Randomized Controlled Trial

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Abstract

In general, refugees have an increased cancer burden because of living in difficult conditions and having low income. Refugee women may have difficulty in accessing healthcare services because of the fear of uncertainty, security concerns, language barriers, cultural differences, and economic problems. For this reason, it is thought that health education given to Syrian refugee women by overcoming the language problem (given in their own language—Arabic) increases the awareness of breast and cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of health education given to refugee women in their own language on the awareness of breast and cervical cancer. This is a randomized controlled trial with one control and one intervention group. The research sample consisted of 60 Syrian women (30 experiments, 30 controls), at least 18 years old, married, and literate women who were refugees in Hatay/Turkey. The research data were collected via the questionnaire form developed by the researchers. At the beginning of the study, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of age, education, economic status, gravida, and parity among the women in the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups (p < 0.005). In this study, it was determined that health education given to refugee women in their own language had a significant effect on breast and cervical cancer awareness. The attitudes and motivations are shaped, not only by personal information but also by the cultural changes within the community.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the women who participated in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nursing Department, Gyneacology and Obstetric Nursıng Department, Hatay Healthy High School, Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Sökmen Campus Alahan, 31060, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey

    Rabiye Erenoğlu

  2. Nursing Department, Gynecology and Obstetric Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey

    Şengül Yaman Sözbir

Authors
  1. Rabiye Erenoğlu
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  2. Şengül Yaman Sözbir
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Correspondence to Rabiye Erenoğlu.

Ethics declarations

Permission to apply from the Directorate of the Public Education Center, ethics approval from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Mustafa Kemal University (decision no: 2017/167), and written consent from the refugee women were taken before the study. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all the participants for whom identifying information was included in this article. The same health education was given to the women in the control group after the study was completed.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Erenoğlu, R., Yaman Sözbir, Ş. The Effect of Health Education Given to Syrian Refugee Women in Their Own Language on Awareness of Breast and Cervical Cancer, in Turkey: a Randomized Controlled Trial. J Canc Educ 35, 241–247 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01604-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01604-4

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