Knowledge and Practice of Breast Cancer Screening Methods among Female Community Pharmacists in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objectives. Our study is aimed at exploring the knowledge and personal practice of breast cancer screening among female community pharmacists in Jordan. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was carried out using a nonrandom sample selection method for pharmacists in community pharmacies. Results. A total of 551 female pharmacists completed the questionnaire. The mean age of pharmacists was 29.1 ± 7.3 years (range 21–67), and most have bachelor degrees in pharmacy (89.1%). The mean score of knowledge of breast cancer signs and symptoms was 4.2 ± 1.5 out of 6 points (range 0–6). The mean score of knowledge of risk factors was 7.6 ± 1.9 out of 12 points (ranging from 2–12). The mean score for knowledge of screening guidelines was 2.8 ± 0.9 out of 4 points (range 0–4). Overall, 452 pharmacists (85.8%) had acceptable knowledge while 75 pharmacists (14.2%) had poor knowledge of breast cancer. Pharmacists surveyed were aware of the different screening methods of breast cancer. The percentage of pharmacists who has performed breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE), and mammography was 46.6%, 16.5%, and 5.4%, respectively. The most common reason for the lack of BSE and CBE performance was the absence of breast symptoms. Not being at the age recommended for mammography was the most common reason for not undergoing this screening method. Knowledge and practice of screening methods were influenced by age, years of experience, geographic region, personal history of breast cancer, and educational level among community pharmacists. Conclusions. This study revealed some gaps in the knowledge of breast cancer among female community pharmacists. The practice of the different screening methods was suboptimal, and variable reasons were indicated for the low uptake of these screening methods. Community pharmacists need to practice preventive behaviors to a satisfactory level to encourage women in the community to adopt similar behavior.

Female Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge, Attitude towards Breast Cancer, and Perceived Barriers towards Mammogram Screening: A Multicenter Study in North Saudi Arabia

“…Similar to the current study findings, a study done by in Jordan found that female participants were highly aware of family history as a risk factor. However, only one-third recognized early puberty as a risk factor [ 12 ]. A recently conducted survey in the KSA found results in contrast to the present study.…”

“…Recent epidemiological studies reported that women with inadequate knowledge regarding risk factors and susceptibility to breast cancer were less likely to accept breast cancer screening methods. Other factors associated with the low uptake of mammogram screening programs were low income, low education, and lack of information regarding available screening methods [ 12 , 13 ].…”

Assessing the knowledge, Attitudes and Barriers Regarding Health Promotion of Breast Cancer Among Community Pharmacists

“…Only variables in Table 7 were the statistically significant variables to predict the knowledge score. The following variables were considered for the first step entry: variable(s) entered on step 1: age (years), gender, marital status, education, country from where your last academic degree was obtained, experience (years), attended an educational program on breast cancer, approximate number of patients with breast cancer interacted with per month, perceived knowledge of breast cancer, average number of working h per week, average number of patients interacted with per day, percentage (%) of female patients visiting the pharmacy, number of pharmacists working in the pharmacy at any one shift [ 34 ]. In addition to the answer the following statements (rarely or often): Respond to patient inquiries related to breast cancer warning signs and symptoms and breast cancer early detection and screening tests, provide patients with advice or counseling on breast cancer screening and early detection, provide patients with breast cancer educational materials or self-assessment quizzes, refer patients to special breast cancer screening programs organized by hospitals or cancer organizations.…”

“…Most of the questions related to the knowledge, attitudes, and barriers were selected from the literature [ 32–34 ]. As was outlined in a previous study published in 2021 [ 34 ], the questionnaire was divided in to 4 sections – the first section included the sociodemographic and practice variables of community pharmacists, the second section contained 26 items to test the knowledge of the community pharmacists about breast cancer prevalence, risk factors, signs and symptoms, screening methods, and treatment, the third section used 14 questions to study the attitudes and beliefs of the pharmacists and the final section included 9 questions related to the barriers faced by pharmacists in promoting breast cancer health to patients coming into their pharmacy. The detailed questionnaire can be seen in Figure 1 .…”

The Experience of Patients with Hematological Malignancy in their Terminal Stage: A Phenomenological Study

“…In Jordan, inadequate pain management is still a problem [31,32]. Due to lack of studies among HM, the recent studies were conducted among sloid cancers and revealed that more than 80% of cancer patients experienced poor pain management as resulted from inadequate prescribed opioids and non-opioid adjuvants drugs [31,33]. The reasons which interfere with prescribing opioids for cancer patients in Jordan was related to cultural or legal issues [9].…”