AWARENESS AND BELIEF REGARDING BREAST CANCER AMONG WOMEN LIVING IN SELANGOR, MALAYSIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.20/no.1/art.427Keywords:
Awareness, belief, breast cancer, educational level, Selangor, MalaysiaAbstract
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among women. The aim of the current study was to assess the factors affecting awareness and beliefs regarding breast cancer, among women living in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among women living in Selangor aged 18 to 65 years old, with a total of 483 participants. A validated questionnaire regarding awareness and belief was used. The questionnaires consist of 25 questions comprising of socio-demographic, history of other diseases, awareness and belief. The prevalence of poor awareness among women was 63.4%. while the poor level of belief was 84.7%. There was a significant association between awareness and educational background, family history of breast cancer (P=0.001, P=0.032) respectively. The association between awareness and belief was significant (P=0.02). As a conclusion: There is a high level of poor belief and poor awareness among women in Selangor, Malaysia regarding breast cancer. Source of information such as the internet plays a major role in breast cancer prevention, and the majority of them do not know the technique of breast self-examination. More health promotion is needed to target general population through big campaign of awareness.
References
World Health Organization. Breast cancer facts. Retrived from https://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/diagnosis-screening/breast-cancer/en/
Majlis Kanser Nasional, MAKNA Annual report , 2017
Hadi, M. A., Hassali, M. A., Shafie, A. A., & Awaisu, A. (2010). Evaluation of breast cancer awareness among female university students in Malaysia. Pharmacy Practice, 8(1), 29–34. https://doi.org/10.4321/S1886-36552010000100003
Al-Dubai SAR, Qureshi AM, Ali RS, et al (2011). Awareness and knowledge of breast cancer and mammography among a group of Malaysian women in Shah Alam. APJCP, 12, 2531-8
Smith, S. G., Beard, E., Mcgowan, J. A., Fox, E., Cook, C., Pal, R., … Shahab, L. (2018). Development of a tool to assess beliefs about mythical causes of cancer : the Cancer Awareness Measure Mythical Causes Scale. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022825
Panjari, M., Davis, S. R., Fradkin, P., & Bell, R. J. (2012). Breast cancer survivors' beliefs about the causes of breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 21(7), 724-729. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.1949
Hasan TN, Shah SA, Hassan MR, Safian N, Azhar ZI, Syed Abdul Rahim SS, Ghazi HF. Poor Knowledge and Practice Towards Breast Cancer among Women in Baghdad City, Iraq. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2015; 16(15):6669-72.
JASP Statistical software . https://jasp-stats.org
Jarvandi S, Montazeri A, Harirchi I, et al (2002). Beliefs and behaviours of Iranian teachers toward early detection of breast cancer and breast self-examination. Public Health, 116, 245-9.
Parisa Parsa and Mirnalini Kandiah. Breast cancer knowledge, perception and breast self-examination practices among Iranian women. The international medical journal 2005 , 4(2):17-24.
Tavafian SS, Hasani L, Aghamolaei T, Zare S, Gregory D. Prediction of breast self-examination in a sample of Iranian women: an application of the Health Belief Model. BMC Women's Health. 2009;9(1):37.
.Hassan MR, Ghazi HF, Mohamed AS, Jasmin SJ (2017) Knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female non-medical students in universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia (UKM) in Bangi. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 17: 51-58.
Hasanain Faisal Ghazi, Maged Elnajeh, Afifah Azri, Mohammed A. AbdalQader, Mohammed Faez Baobaid, Al-abed Ali Ahmed Al-abed. knowledge and beliefs on female breast cancer among male students in a private University, Malaysia
Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 2017; 17(1):8-13.
Parsa P, Kandiah M, Mohd Zulkefli NA, et al (2008). Knowledge and behavior regarding breast cancer screening among female teachers in Selangor, Malaysia. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 9, 221-7.
Gupta SK, Pal DK, Grag R, et al (2009). Impact of a health education intervention program regarding breast self-examination by women in a semi-urban area of Madhya Pradesh, India. Asia Pac J Cancer Prev, 10, 113-7.
Alam AA. Knowledge of breast cancer and its risk and protective factors among women in Riyadh. Ann Saudi Med. 2006;26(4):272.
Amin TT, Al Mulhim A, Al MA. Breast cancer knowledge, risk factors and screening among adult Saudi women in a primary health care setting. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2009;10(1):133–8.
Ahmed F, Mahmud S, Hatcher J, Khan SM (2006). Breast cancer risk factor knowledge among nurses in teaching hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study. BMC Nurs, 5, 6
