TITLE:
Knowledge, attitude and practice of breast self examination and breast cancer among female medical students in Taif, Saudi Arabia
AUTHORS:
Dalal M. Nemenqani, Sahar H. Abdelmaqsoud, Al-Hanouf A. Al-Malki, Abrar A. Oraija, Eiman M. Al-Otaibi
KEYWORDS:
Breast Self Examination; Breast Cancer; Medical Students; Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.4 No.2,
February
13,
2014
ABSTRACT: Introduction and Research Problem: Breast cancer is the most common of all female cancers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Different studies conducted in the Kingdom have shown that knowledge of females regarding breast cancer is poor. Aim of the study was to determine knowledge, attitude and practice among students of Saudi female medical university towards Breast Self Examination (BSE) and
also to explore their knowledge about breast cancer. Research Methodology: An observational cross-sectional study was
conducted at Faculty of Medicine, Taif University during October 2013. Sample
size was 378 with mean age of 19.9 ± 1.5. A self administrated questionnaire
was used to obtain data about knowledge, attitude and practice towards BSE and
knowledge about breast cancer. Data were collected and fed to SPSS version 16.
Shape of distribution for numerical data was tested by using one sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test. Chi-Square Test & Fissure Exact Test (FET) were used for testing
relation between categorical variables while correlation analysis was used to
test the strength of relation between numeric variables. Main Results: The study revealed that only 8.2% of
participants had good overall knowledge
about breast cancer and BSE. Although 66% of the study sample had
positive attitude towards BSE, only 17%
reported that they practiced BSE monthly. A significant positive
moderate correlation was found between overall knowledge score and attitude
towards BSE (r = 0.449 & p = 0.000). The
same was for the frequency of BSE practice but it was found to be in a weak
magnitude (r = 0.223 & p = 0.000). Conclusion and Recommendations: Although there was lack of knowledge about breast cancer
and BSE yet, positive attitude towards BSE was encouraging. Most
female medical students in our sample did not perform BSE or perform it
irregularly. Therefore, more intensified
awareness programs among students of medical university are necessary to
keep in view their current status of breast cancer and BSE knowledge. Further
researches are needed to identify causes of inadequate knowledge and practice
of BSE among medical students in Taif.