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Table 2 Participants’ Levels of Cultural Beliefs (N = 289)

From: Cultural beliefs about breast cancer in Vietnamese women

Domain

Item

Response n (%)

True

False

I. Breast lump characteristics

1. If a breast lump is not painful, it is not cancer.

100 (34.6)

189 (65.4)

2. If a breast lump does not get bigger, it is not cancer.

109 (37.7)

180 (62.3)

3. If a breast lump is touched/pressed often, it will turn out to be breast cancer.

26 (9.0)

263 (91.1)

II. Self-help techniques

5. The more you worry about breast cancer, the more likely you will get it.

23 (8.0)

266 (92.0)

6. If you take good care of yourself, you won’t get breast cancer.

181 (62.6)

108 (37.4)

13. If you have a breast lump, a “natural” remedy can help to get rid of it.

42 (14.5)

247 (85.5)

III. Faith-based beliefs

7. Faith in God can protect you from breast cancer.

15 (5.2)

274 (94.8)

10. If you pray enough, sometimes breast lumps will disappear.

4 (1.4)

285 (98.6)

14. If a woman has enough faith in God, she won’t need treatment for breast cancer.

289 (100.0)

IV. Futility of treatment

11. If breast cancer is cut open in surgery, it will grow faster.

18 (6.2)

271 (93.8)

15. If a woman is poor, she will not get cured from cancer because she won’t get the best treatment.

108 (37.4)

181 (62.6)

*16. If breast cancer is treated correctly, it can be cured.

264 (91.3)

25 (8.7)

17. It doesn’t really matter if you get treated for breast cancer, because if you get cancer, it will kill you sooner or later.

90 (31.1)

199 (68.9)

Total mean score

3.4

  1. *Reverse coded