Low Knowledge and Negative Perception about the Risks of Breast Cancer among Female High School Students
Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women. The potential risk factor is older age, however, the prevalence at a young age is recently increased. Unfortunately, young women show a poor level of knowledge about breast cancer. This study aimed to explore the knowledge and perception among female high school students about the risks of breast cancer.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from October to November 2013 in Jatinangor. One hundred and eighteen (n118) female students from three senior high schools were included in this study. Data on mother’s educational status, family income, family history of breast cancer and number of a family members living in the same house was collected. Knowledge and perception toward risks of breast cancer were assessed using a validated questionnaire.
Results: Most of the students (69.5%) had a poor level of knowledge about breast cancer. Furthermore, they also had a negative perception (43.2%) toward breast cancer’s risks. Factor influencing their perception was family income (p=0.012) and knowledge about breast cancer (p=0.008).
Conclusions: Young female high school students have low knowledge and negative perception about the risks of breast cancer. It is recommended that education about breast care and breast cancer should be given to high school female students to improve their knowledge and to early detect abnormality in their breast.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Ferlay J, Shin H-R, Bray F, Forman D, Mathers C, Parkin DM. Estimates of worldwide burden of cancer in 2008: GLOBOCAN 2008. Int J Cancer. 2010;127(12):2893−917.
Parkin DM, Bray F, Ferlay J, Pisani P. Global cancer statistics, 2002. CA Cancer J Clin. 2005;55(2):74−108.
Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D. Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin. 2011;61(2):69−90.
Smith RA, Caleffi M, Albert US, Chen TH, Duffy SW, Franceschi D, et al. Breast cancer in limited-resource countries: early detection and access to care. Breast J. 2006;12(Suppl 1):S16−26.
Smith RA, Cokkinides V, Eyre HJ. American cancer society guidelines for the early detection of cancer, 2006. CA Cancer J Clin. 2006;56(1):11−25.
Cancer Australia Australian Government. Early detection of breast cancer. 2009 [cited 2013 March 3]: Available from: http://canceraustralia.gov.au/about-us/position-statements/early-detection-breast-cancer.
Hadi MA, Hassali MA, Shafie AA, Awaisu A. Knowledge and perception of breast cancer among women of various ethnic groups in the State of Penang: a cross-sectional survey. Med Princ Pract. 2010;19(1):61−7.
Hadi MA, Hassali MA, Shafie AA, Awaisu A. Evaluation of breast cancer awareness among female university students in Malaysia. Pharm Pract (Granada). 2010;8(1):29−34.
Oluwatosin OA. Rural women’s perception of breast cancer and its early-detection measures in Ibadan, Nigeria. Cancer Nurs. 2006;29(6):461−6.
Montazeri A, Vahdaninia M, Harirchi I, Harirchi AM, Sajadian A, Khaleghi F, et al. Breast cancer in Iran: need for greater women awareness of warning signs and effective screening methods. Asia Pac Fam Med. 2008;7(1):6.
Rahman SM, Rahman S. Breast cancer perceptions, knowledge and behavioral practices among women living in a rural community. Int J Canc Prev. 2008;2(6):415−25.
Webster P, Austoker J. Women’s knowledge about breast cancer risk and their views of the purpose and implications of breast screening-a questionnaire survey. J Public Health. 2006;28(3):197−202.
Mafuvadze B, Manguvo A, He J, Whitney SD, Hyder SM. Breast cancer knowledge and awareness among high school and college students in Mid-Western USA. Int J Sci Educ, Part B. 2014;3(2):144−58.
Al-Dubai SA, Qureshi AM, Saif-Ali R, Ganasegeran K, Alwan MR, Hadi JI. Awareness and knowledge of breast cancer and mammography among a group of Malaysian women in Shah Alam. Asian Pac J CancerPrev. 2011;12(10):2531−8.
Johnson NE. Young Women’s Perception of Breast Cancer [Dissertation]. Bendigo: La Trobe University; 2006.
Lester SC. The breast. In: Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N, Aster JC, editors. Robbins and cotran pathologic basis of disease. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. p. 1065−93.
Dandash KF, Al-mohaimeed A. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding breast cancer and screening in female teachers of Buraidh, Saudi Arabia. Int J Health Sci. 2007;1(1):61−71.
Okobia MN, Bunker CH, Okonofua FE, Osime U. Knowledge, attitude and practice of Nigerian women towards breast cancer: a cross sectional study. World J Surg Onc. 2006;4:11.
Parsa P, Kandiah M, Rahman HA, Zulkefli MA. Knowledge and behavior regarding breast cancer screening among female teachers in Selangor, Malaysia. Asian Pacific J Cancer Prev. 2008;9:221−8.
Champion VL, Skinner CS. The health belief model. In: Glanz K, Rimer BK, Viswanath K, editors. Health behavior and health education: theory, research, and practice. 4th ed. San Fransisco: John Wiley & Sons; 2008. p. 45−50.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15850/amj.v6n3.1675
Article Metrics
Abstract view : 583 timesPDF - 370 times
This Journal indexed by
AMJ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
View My Stats