ABSTRACT

Background:The Internet is a fundamental part of the daily life of all populations.

Aim: To determining the role of the Internet as a health information source for breast cancer early detection methods.

Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 657women; attending primary healthcare centers (PHCCs) in Baghdad city were selected as an improbability sample. The average age was between (20-59) years. Data collection extended for two months(Februaryand March) 2016. After taking informed consent from all participants, all of them were asked about the role of the Internet using in obtaining information regarding breast cancer early detection procedures by a specially designed questionnaire filled through a face-to-face interview.  Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics by SPSS version 20.

Results:Study results suggested that 453(69%) of women in this study never use the Internet for searching health information with significant differences between educational levels. Among the 204 women using the internet for this purpose; only 42.2% consulted the Internet more than once for information regarding breast self-examination.

Conclusion:Internet usage is widely distributed in the world including Iraq. Even so, it still not sufficiently used as a sourceof health information especially breast cancer early detection.Using the internet for health information is significantly associated with educational levels.

It is so important to promote women for spending more time to educate themselves about breast cancer using the most availableand usable sourceof information.

Keywords: Internet, Breast Cancer, Breast Self Examination, Clinical Breast Examination, Mammography.