Acesso a medidas de detecção precoce do câncer de mama por mulheres em tratamento oncológico

Aim: to identify measures of early detection and pre-diagnostic conducts performed by women in treatment for breast cancer in public and private health institutions. Metodo: a quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study, carried out with 110 women undergoing oncological treatment in the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected from July to October 2014 and analyzed through descriptive statistics. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee, opinion no 718.978. Resultados: the majority of the participants performed regular clinical examination of the breasts (80.9%), self-examination of the breasts (77.3%) and mammography (60%). The first clinical sign was perceived by self-examination (69.1%). In the course of diagnosis, 73.6% reported no difficulties. The mean time elapsed between detection of the first signal and the beginning of treatment was five months. Conclusao: self-examination of the breasts was the most commonly used method of early detection, with clinical examination and mammography performed annually