Research Article - Biomedical Research (2019) Volume 30, Issue 6

Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices of women on breast cancer detection, screening and breast self-examination: A public awareness study.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) has a major impact on women's health worldwide. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no exception, where it is considered the most common malignancy, embodying the second leading cause of cancer deaths after lung cancer. In today's world, people are more health conscious and more aware of different medical specialties. Despite the tremendous advancements in education, there seems to be a limited knowledge among the public regarding this issue. Objective: The present study aims to assess the breast cancer awareness and its screening measurements among the common population. This study also evaluates the knowledge about Breast Self-Examination (BSE) and their opinion about its effectiveness in early diagnosis of breast cancer to detect the relationship between awareness and socioeconomic status. Methodology: This study is a cross-sectional prospective study with a sample of 202 female participants evaluated by questionnaire given to female attending lecture about breast cancer awareness in October 2018 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The selection of participants was based on the simple random sampling method. Results and conclusion: The present study showed little awareness of BSE, mammography screening and clinical breast examination. However, breast cancer awareness was found to be quite optimal suggesting increasing knowledge of breast cancer awareness among Saudi females.

Author(s): Fatma Al Thoubaity

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