• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.7
• /
• pp.4307-4312
• /
• 2013

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy of women worldwide. It is the leading cause of female cancer related disability and mortality. In Saudi Arabia breast cancer ranks first among cancerous diseases in females. In the Gulf region, and especially in Saudi Arabia, few studies have been conducted to address breast cancer awareness. The purpose of the current study was therefore to investigate the level of breast cancer awareness among Saudi females in Jeddah, focusing on knowledge of breast cancer warning signs, risk factors, screening programs and breast self-examination (BSE). The design of this study was an exploratory correlational analysis. The sample comprised 200 Saudi females aged 20 and older living in Jeddah. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews. Breast cancer awareness was measured using a modified Arabic version of the Breast Cancer Awareness Measure (Breast CAM) version 2. Descriptive statistical analysis, Pearson's Product Moment correlation coefficients and ANOVA test were used to answer study questions. Out of 200 participants, 50.5% were aware of breast lump as a warning sign of breast cancer, 57.5% claimed that family history was risk factor, 20.5% had undergone breast screening, 79% heard about BSE, and 47.5% knew how to perform BSE. Findings indicated that Saudi females level of awareness of breast cancer is very inadequate. Public awareness interventions are needed in order to overcome an ever-increasing burden of this disease among Saudi females.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.1875-1879
• /
• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. A very important factor in the timely treatment and prevention of progression is high breast cancer awareness. Rural women are at risk of latte stage breast cancer due to poor education and lack of access to medical facilities. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional-descriptive study was conducted on 266 women (out of 300) aged over 18 in rural areas of Zabol, Southeastern Iran during July 2015 to October 2015. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that measured participant knowledge of breast cancer in four aspects (general awareness, risk factors, mammography, and symptoms). SPSS 22 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Out of 266 participants, age information was available for 261. The age range was between 19 and 62, with a mean of $27{\pm}2.1years$. Most participants (154, 57.9%) had an average overall awareness of breast cancer. In the general awareness dimension, most participants (130, 48.9%) had poor scores. Most (166, 62.4%) also had average awareness about risk factors and many (137, 51.5%) had good awareness about mammography. Most participants did not know that changes in breast shape (232, 88.2%), dimpling of breast skin (192, 72.3%) and nipple discharge (183, 69.6%) are the main symptoms of breast cancer. ANOVA statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between awareness level and participant education and occupation (P<0.05). Conclusions: This study indicated average awareness of participants about breast cancer. Since rural women have lower levels of education, it is recommended that educational courses with contents about breast cancer, its risk factors, and symptoms be held for these women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.851-856
• /
• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is a major health problem among women around the world. Recent developments in screening and treatment have greatly improved the prognosis of patients with breast cancer in developed countries. However, in developing countries breast cancer mortality remains high.Breast cancer awareness is a first and important step in reducing breast cancer mortality. The development of a validated instrument to measure breast cancer awareness is crucial for the understanding and implementation of suitable health education programs to facilitate early deletion and minimize mortality. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop an instrument for the assessment of breast cancer awareness in Thai women. Materials and Methods: This methodological study was conducted in two stages: (1) literature searches and semi-structured interviews were conducted to generate items of the breast cancer awareness scale (B-CAS) which were subsequently examined for content and face validity, and (2) an exploration of the factor structure of the resulting instrument and an examination of its reliability. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in Thai women aged 20-64 in August, 2015. Results: A total of 219 women (response rate 97.4 %) participated in this validation study. The B-CAS contains five domains with 53 items on breast cancer awareness: 1) knowledge of risk factors, 2) knowledge of signs and symptoms, 3) attitude to breast cancer prevention, 4) barriers of breast screening, and 5) health behavior related to breast cancer awareness. Items with a content validity index < 0.80 were excluded, and factor structure for the remaining items reflected the hypothesized five factor model. The scales based on all retained items was shown to have strongly internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's ${\alpha}=0.86$). Conclusions: The B-CAS provides good psychometric properties to assess breast cancer awareness in women. It can be used to examine breast cancer awareness in Thai women and it could lead to the development and evaluation of suitable educational interventions for raising breast cancer awareness. Future research should focus on further validating the B-CAS including an assessment of construct and criterion-based validity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.23
• /
• pp.10157-10164
• /
• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the State of Qatar. Due to low participation in breast cancer screening (BCS) activities, women in Qatar are often diagnosed with breast cancer at advanced stages of the disease. Findings indicate that low participation rates in BCS activities are significantly related to women's low level of awareness of breast cancer screening. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the factors that influence Qatari women's awareness of breast cancer and its screening activities: and (2) to find ways to effectively promote breast cancer screening activities among Arabic speaking women in Qatar. Materials and Methods: A multicenter, cross-sectional quantitative survey of 1,063 (87.5% response rate) female Qatari citizens and non-Qatari Arabic-speaking residents, 35 years of age or older, was conducted in Qatar from March 2011 to July 2011. Outcome measures included participant awareness levels of the most recent national recommended guidelines of BCS, participation rates in BCS activities, and factors related to awareness of BCS activities. Results: While most participants (90.7%) were aware of breast cancer, less than half had awareness of BCS practices (28.9% were aware of breast self-examination and 41.8% of clinical breast exams, while 26.4% knew that mammography was recommended by national screening guidelines. Only 7.6% had knowledge of all three BCS activities). Regarding BCS practice, less than one-third practiced BCS appropriately (13.9% of participants performed breast self-examination (BSE) monthly, 31.3% had a clinical breast exam (CBE) once a year or once every two years, and 26.9% of women 40 years of age or older had a mammogram once every year or two years). Awareness of BCS was significantly related to BCS practice, education level, and receipt of information about breast cancer and/or BCS from a variety of sources, particularly doctors and the media. Conclusions: The low levels of participation rates in BCS among Arab women in this study indicate a strong need to increase awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening in Qatari women. Without this awareness, compliance with the most recent breast cancer screening recommendations in Qatar will remain low. An increased effort to implement mass media and public health campaigns regarding the impact of breast cancer on women's health and the benefits of early detection of breast cancer must be coupled with an enhanced participation of health care providers in delivering this message to Qatar population.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2018

PURPOSE: The purpose this study was to investigate the awareness of physical therapy as one of rehabilitation interventions for post-operative women with breast cancer in healthy Korean women. METHODS: This study recruited 223 adult women aged 20 and older who never had breast cancer but received physical therapy. This study used a structured questionnaire consisting of 13 items in 3 fields designed to focus on socio-demographic characteristics, breast cancer experience of friends or family, and awareness of physical therapy as one of methods to improve rehabilitation of patients following breast cancer surgery. RESULTS: Among respondents who completed the survey, 62.8% were interested in breast cancer. However, 78.1% had never heard of physical therapy as a rehabilitation intervention for post-operative women with breast cancer. 44.4% believed that physical therapy is necessary after breast cancer surgery. 69.5% of the respondents were willing to participate in a physical therapy rehabilitation program if there were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 59.2% believed that the participation in this program would be beneficial. 42.9% acquired some information that physical therapy is one type of rehabilitation to improve physical condition for women with breast cancer from the Internet or television. In addition, education level affected interest and awareness of physical therapy for breast cancer. Awareness about breast cancer and physical therapy were higher among well-educated respondents. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that a physical therapy rehabilitation program is specifically developed, and correct information on it is provided to improve health condition in women following breast cancer surgery.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.1719-1724
• /
• 2015

Background: Breast and cervical cancers are the most common types of cancer in women worldwide. Previous studies in Asia have shown that related knowledge and awareness is low among female university students. The goal of this study was to assess breast and cervical cancer knowledge, practices, and awareness among female university students in Samsun,Turkey. Materials and Methods: This research was a cross-sectional survey of female university students using a self-administered. questionnaire to investigate participant awareness and knowledge of breast and cervical cancer. A total of 301 female university students participated. Descriptive statistics and chi square tests were used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants in this study was $22.0{\pm}5.91$ years. Regarding family history, 89.7 % of the students had no known familial history of breast cancer. Students (65.4%) had knowledge about breast self examination and 52.2 % of them had performed breast self examinationm while 55.1% of them had knowledge about prevention of cervical cancer. Conclusions: Although the results are preliminary, the study points to an insufficient knowledge of university students in Samsun about breast and cervical cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.2247-2254
• /
• 2016

Background: The incidence of breast cancer is rising in Oman, and the disease is diagnosed at late stages, when treatment success is limited. Omani women might benefit from better awareness, so that breast cancer can be detected early and treated. This study was conducted to assess Omani women's levels of breast cancer awareness and early detection practice, and explore factors which might influence these levels. Materials and Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted in 2014, including a quantitative survey of 1,372 and a qualitative assessment of 19 Omani women, aged ${\geq}20years$ from five Omani governorates using convenient sampling. Demographic information and scores for awareness levels were used in a multivariate regression model to investigate factors associated with awareness. Thematic analysis and interpretive description were used to analyse the qualitative data. Results: The overall means for early detection and general awareness scores were 0.58 (SD 0.24) and 0.46 (SD 0.21), respectively. General awareness was significantly associated with age, education, income and familiarity with cancer patients (p<0.05), while early detection was significantly associated with age, marital status and education. A majority of women (59.5%) agreed with a belief in 'evil eye' or envy as a risk factor for breast cancer. Women discussed various factors which may empower or inhibit awareness, including the cultural-religion-fatalistic system, personal-familial-environmental system, and healthcare-political-social system. Conclusions: The overall low scores for awareness and early detection, and the survey of local beliefs highlight a severe necessity for a contextually-tailored breast cancer awareness intervention programme in Oman.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.15
• /
• pp.6249-6254
• /
• 2015

Targeting breast cancer awareness along with comprehensive cancer care is appropriate in low and middle income countries like India, where there are no organized and affordable screening services. It is essential to identify the existing awareness about breast cancer in the community prior to launching an organized effort. This study assessed the existing awareness about breast cancer amongst women and their health seeking practices in an urban community in Mumbai, India. A postal survey was undertaken with low or no cost options for returning the completed questionnaires. The majority of the women were aware about cancer but awareness about symptoms and signs was poor. Women were willing to accept more information about cancer and those with higher awareness scores were more likely to seek medical help. They were also more likely to have undergone breast examination in the past and less likely to use alternative medicines. High income was associated with better awareness but this did not translate into better health seeking behaviour. Organized programmes giving detailed information about breast cancer and its symptoms are needed and women from all income categories need to be encouraged for positive change towards health seeking. Further detailed studies regarding barriers to health seeking in India are necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.927-932
• /
• 2015

Background: Breast and cervical cancers are the most common causes of cancer mortality among women in India, but actually they are largely preventable diseases. Although early detection is the only way to reduce morbidity and mortality, there are limited data on breast and cervical cancer knowledge, safe practices and attitudes of teachers in India. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of awareness and impact of awareness programs in adoption of safe practices in prevention and early detection. Materials and Methods: This assessment was part of a pink chain campaign on cancer awareness. During cancer awareness events in 2011 at various women colleges in different parts in India, a pre-test related to cervical cancer and breast cancer was followed by an awareness program. Post-tests using the same questionnaire were conducted at the end of the interactive session, at 6 months and 1 year. Results: A total of 156 out of 182 teachers participated in the study (overall response rate was 85.7 %). Mean age of the study population was 42.4 years (range- 28-59 yrs). There was a significant increase in level of knowledge regarding cervical and breast cancer at 6 months and this was sustained at 1 year. Adoption of breast self examination (BSE) was significantly more frequent in comparison to CBE, mammography and the Pap test. Magazines and newspapers were sources for knowledge regarding screening tests for breast cancer in more than 60% of teachers where as more than 75% were educated by doctors regarding the Pap test. Post awareness at 6 months and 1 year, there was a significant change in alcohol and smoking habits. Major reasons for not doing screening test were found to be ignorance (50%), lethargic attitude (44.8%) and lack of time (34.6%). Conclusions: Level of knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, symptoms and screening methods was high as compared to cervical cancer. There was a significant increase in level of knowledge regarding cervical and breast cancer at 6 months and this was sustained at 1 year. Adoption of BSE was significantly greater in comparison to CBE, mammography and the Pap test. To inculcate safe practices in lifestyle of people, awareness programmes such as pink chain campaign should be conducted more widely and frequently.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.18
• /
• pp.8163-8171
• /
• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is the second most cause of death (1.38 million, 10.9% of all cancer) worldwide after lung cancer. In present study, we assess the knowledge, level of awareness of risk factors and screening practices especially breast self examination (BSE) among women, considering the non-feasibility of diagnostic tools such as mammography for breast screening techniques of breast cancer in the holy city Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional population based survey was conducted. The investigation tool adopted was self administrated questionnaire format. Data were analysed using SPSS 20 version and Chi square test to determine significant association between various education groups with awareness and knowledge, analysis of variance was applied in order to establish significance. Results: The attitude of participants in this study, among 560 women 500 (89%) responded (age group 18-65 years), 53.8% were married. The knowledge about BSE was very low (16%) and out of them 15.6% were practised BSE only once in life time. study shown that prominent age at which women achieve their parity was 20 yrs, among 500 participants 224 women have achieved their parity from age 18 to 30 yrs. Very well known awareness about risk factors of breast cancer were alcohol (64.6%), smoking (64%) and least known awareness risk factors were early menarche (17.2%) and use of red meat (23%). The recovery factors of breast cancer cases were doctors support (95%) and family support (94.5%) as most familiar responses of the holy city Varanasi. Conclusions: The study revealed that the awareness about risk factors and practised of BSE among women in Varanasi is extremely low in comparison with other cities and countries as well (Delhi, Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, Turkey and Nigeria). However, doctors and health workers may promote the early diagnosis of breast cancer.