The present study was conducted to realize the most common barriers for breast
cancer screening among Libyan women living inside Tripoli, the capital of Libya. A
descriptive study was conducted at different places, during the period November, 2008 to
July, 2009. A total of 221 women, aged 34 years and above with absence of former or current
history of breast cancer, were participated in the study and completed self-administered
questionnaire that assessed screening knowledge and related beliefs. The parameters
computed were socio-demographic characteristics that include; age, education level, monthly
income, marital states, previous breast cancer screening, family history of breast cancer, age
of first menstrual period and the use of contraceptive. These demographic characteristic were
statistically cross-matched with mean barriers scores. The mean age was 45.13 years and
majority of women were married. The barriers to breast cancer were significantly higher
among women who described a low annual household income family, women who did not
know how to do self-examination and among women who listed never doing previous breast
screening. While, there were no differences regarding to age, marital state and time of
menarche. The four strongest barriers described by women were; there are no insurance
coverage, have to wait too long, no way to get there and fear of mastectomy. This study
indicates that the effective approach to reduce mortality associated with breast cancer is the
early screening since its etiology remains uncertain. Moreover, to increase the awareness of
women to the importance of breast screening there is a great need for a well-organized health
educational program and improvement of each family economic situation. The better
understandings of barriers to breast screening lead to improve interventions directed at reduce
morbidity and mortality among women.
Key words: women; breast cancer screening; demographic characteristic, Libya