999 – Influence of health literacy on adherence to mammographic screening

Abstract

Introduction: Health literacy (HL) aims to empower patients in their health-disease process, emphasizing breast cancer, the most frequent cancer in women, where early detection is linked to a full recovery. HL focused on mammography
screening reinforces the importance of regular periodicity and understanding the importance of the examination’s clinical relevance for women’s health, thereby facilitating early detection and increasing the survival rate.
Objective: To verify the influence of health literacy on adherence to breast cancer screening through mammography.
Material and Methods: A literature review, considering articles in Portuguese and English, from the Scielo, Google Scholar,
and Pubmed databases, with a time frame from 2021 to 2026. Seven articles were found, and five were selected for this
study, focusing on “Health literacy,” “Treatment adherence,” “Influence,” “Mammography,” and “Health education”.
Results: From the filtered articles, health literacy in relation to women’s health and adherence to mammography screening was analyzed. Beyond literacy levels, women with a lower economic status, limited access to healthcare, and distance
from resources were also impactful factors affecting adherence to screening. Another risk is the trivialization of the examination found among the population, which increases the risk of late diagnosis.
Conclusion: The articles presented were shed light on how limited health literacy hinders the adherence to breast cancer screening. They demonstrated that limited health literacy and economic factors directly interfere with breast cancer
screening, placing a direct responsibility on healthcare professionals to guide this population, demystifying common
misconceptions and reinforcing the importance of periodic screening. This should be combined with public policies that
strengthen and facilitate access to screening, promoting early diagnosis.
Ethics: Public data.