Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Female Teachers Related to Breast Cancer and Breast Examination in Southern Turkey

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of female teachers related to breast cancer in Southern Turkey. Materials and Methods: There are almost 5,000 female teachers working in Hatay, Turkey, and we aimed to reach 10% of this population. Our questionnaire consisted of 14 questions about personal information, 14 questions about knowledge related to breast cancer, and 14 questions about attitudes and behaviors of teachers. Results: In all, 490 female teachers participated in the study. The mean age was 34.6 years, and most were married (77.1%). 62.9% of participants reported to have insufficient knowledge about breast cancer. The source of information was newspaper/TV in 84.6%, and medical health care providers in 22.8%. While all of the participants think that early diagnosis of breast cancer is important; 19% think personal hygiene is protective against breast cancer. Among all the participants, 53.7% have never practiced breast self-examination (BSE). Of those who practice BSE; 80.6% practice it as they remember, 12.5% practice it once a month. 38.4% of these learned BSE from a doctor, and 38.0% from TV. The reason for not practicing BSE was underestimation in 46.7% and lack of knowledge in 37.9%. 152 participants had a clinical breast examination (CBE) done, and 145 of these had it done by an expert doctor. A total of 86 participants had undergone mammography, while 67 of the over-40-year-old group had not. Conclusion: 3/5 of the female teachers think that they do not have enough knowledge related to breast cancer. More than half of them do not practice BSE, and only 12.5% of them practice BSE regularly.

Breast Cancer Awareness, Knowledge and Beliefs among Libyan Women

“…The present study showed that women demonstrated higher knowledge of breast cancer screening and risk factors and were more likely to perform BSE compared to other recent studies in neighbouring countries [24][25][26]. Similar to previous studies [23,25,27] the most familiar methods was BSE followed by CBE and mammography.…”

The Effects of Educational Level on Breast Cancer Awareness: A Cross-Sectional Study in Turkey

“…Media, internet, hospitals, primary health care clinics, and friends and acquaintances play roles in educating the public and increasing awareness about the importance of BSE (Thomas et al, 2002;Dündar et al, 2006;Temiz et al, 2008). In the present study, internet, television, and hospital or primary health care clinic were the most common sources of information concerning BSE for both groups.…”

Knowledge about mammography and associated factors: population surveys with female adults and elderly

“…Studies show that the printed and television media are the main source of information for women 12,19,20,27,32,33 . In national studies, Brito et al 12 demonstrated that the media was the second source of information about mammography (17.1%), and Santos et al 27 showed they were the third main source of information (10.9%).…”

“…In national studies, Brito et al 12 demonstrated that the media was the second source of information about mammography (17.1%), and Santos et al 27 showed they were the third main source of information (10.9%). However, in international studies 19,20,32,33 , more than 50% of the women mention the means of communication 2013; 16(4): 930-42 as the main source of information. The way the media transmits the information about the early diagnosis can be incomprehensible; even though the central theme is clear, the questions related to it are not 25 .…”

“…Health professionals are also mentioned as important sources of information about cancer 12,20,27,32,33 . Together with the media, they can explain these questions to the women, such as mammography preventing breast cancer and its importance regardless of the family history of cancer, and to encourage them to undergo tracking examinations.…”