Volume 27, Issue 137, July 2023

Knowledge, practice, and negligence of Breast Cancer screening among women in Jeddah

Abdullah Qureshey¹, Ghader Jamjoum^2♦, Rayan Alshuaylan³, Mohammed Faleh¹, Zahra Al-Abbad¹, Essam Wael Zarei⁴, Asseel Alaidarous¹, Azzam Aljuaid¹, Khames T Alzahrani⁵

¹Medical Student, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
²Advanced Minimally Invasive HPB, Oncology surgeon, Oncology and quality researcher, Cancer awareness advocate, King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
³General Physician, Al-Diriyah Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁴Medical Student, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
⁵BDS, PGD Endo from Stanford University, Saudi Board of Endodontic, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Advanced Minimally Invasive HPB, Oncology surgeon, Oncology and quality researcher, Cancer awareness advocate, King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cause of mortality among women in the world, and in Saudi Arabia. Screening of breast cancer is important for treatment, and reducing mortality among breast cancer patients. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, practice, and identify the reasons behind negligence of breast cancer screening among women. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on women living in Jeddah. The tool for collecting data was an online questionnaire distributed among women through social media. Specific sections in the questionnaire tested the participants’ knowledge, and frequency of practice breast cancer methods. In the final section participants expressed why they neglect to screen for breast cancer. Results: The research recruited 842 individuals, 93.5 percent of whom were Saudi. 65 percent of participants were between the ages of 20 and 30. Breast self-examination was mentioned by 87.3 percent of women. 58.4% taught about breast self-examination. 23.9% of participants had low knowledge score of breast cancer screening, 41.9% had moderate knowledge score, and 34.2% had high knowledge scores. 90.7% of participants had bad practice towards breast cancer screening, 6.4% had fair practice, and only 2.9% had good practice. Participants' knowledge score was significantly correlated to their age, a nation and jobs. Conclusion: The conclusion, Saudi women had a poor level of knowledge about breast-cancer screening. Nevertheless, screening best practices were observed. Breast cancer awareness programs on the warning signs, symptoms, screening, and prevention should be started, especially at the local level.

Keywords: Breast Cancer, Screening, Breast self-examination, Clinical breast examination, Mammography

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e304ms3150

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i137/e304ms3150

Published: 21 July 2023