The Effect of a Hybrid Approach in Breast Cancer Education on Women's Awareness, Fatalism, and Self-Compassion Levels: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Overview

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effect of a hybrid breast cancer education program on women's breast cancer awareness, cancer fatalism, and self-compassion levels. The study will include 128 women aged 20-65 who apply to an obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinic. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group will receive a hybrid education model. This model consists of a face-to-face training session using a breast model, followed by four weeks of educational materials, informative messages, and reminders delivered via a mobile application. The control group will receive routine healthcare services without this specific educational intervention. Researchers will measure the participants' levels of self-compassion, breast cancer fatalism, and breast cancer awareness using standardized questionnaires. These measurements will be taken at the beginning of the study (pre-test) and four weeks later (post-test) to determine if the technology-supported hybrid education model is effective in improving early diagnosis awareness and psychosocial outcomes

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women globally, making early detection and screening programs a primary target for public health policies. However, insufficient awareness and high levels of cancer fatalism can negatively impact women's participation in early diagnosis behaviors such as breast self-examination and mammography. Additionally, self-compassion is an emerging concept in women's health associated with better psychological resilience, stress management, and adherence to health behaviors. While digital technologies have transformed health education through hybrid models, there is a limited number of randomized controlled trials examining the combined effects of hybrid education approaches on awareness, fatalism, and self-compassion in community-based female populations. This study is designed to address this gap in the literature. The sample size was determined using a priori power analysis via G\*Power software (MANOVA: Repeated measures, within-between interaction), calculating a minimum of 128 participants based on an effect size of f(V)=0.25, α=0.05, and test power of 0.80. Statistical analysis will be conducted using SPSS software. Following normality checks via Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and the evaluation of skewness and kurtosis coefficients, group comparisons will be performed using appropriate parametric (e.g., Independent Samples t-test) or non-parametric (e.g., Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed-rank test) statistical methods. A p-value of \<0.05 will be considered statistically significant.