Knowledge of Risk Factors & Early Detection Methods and Practices towards Breast Cancer among Nurses in Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is an increasing health problem in India. Screening for early detection should lead to a reduction in mortality from the disease. It is known that motivation by nurses influences uptake of screening methods by women. This study aimed to investigate knowledge of breast cancer risk factors & early detection methods and the practice of screening among nurses in Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire to assess the knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, early detection methods and practice of screening methods among 457 nurses working in a Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla-H.P. Chi square test, Data was analysed using SPSS version 16. Test of significance used was chi square test. Results: The response rate of the study was 94.9%. The average knowledge of risk factors about breast cancer of the entire population is 49%. 10.5% of nurses had poor knowledge, 25.2% of the nurses had good knowledge, 45% had very good knowledge and 16.3% of the nurses had excellent knowledge about risk factors of breast cancer and early detection methods. The knowledge level was significantly higher among BSC nurses than nurses with Diploma. 54% of participants in this study reportedly practice BSE at least once every year. Less than one-third reported that they had CBE within the past one year. 7% ever had mammogram before this study. Conclusions: Results from this study suggest the frequent continuing medical education programmes on breast cancer at institutional level is desirable.

Opportunistic screening actions for breast cancer performed by nurses working in primary health care

“…International studies have shown that the increased knowledge of nurses is associated with their professional experience and completion of courses after undergraduate training, and stress the importance of professional training and constant updating of knowledge for effective control of mammary tumors (16)(17)(18) .…”

Knowledge of Female Undergraduate Students on Breast Cancer and Breast Self-examination in Klang Valley, Malaysia

“…Although BSE alone is not sufficient for early detection of breast cancer, but it is still an important screening tool for early detection of breast cancer in developing countries, because it is cheap, widely available, and does not require complex technical training (Giridhara et al, 2013). Overall, practicing BSE allows a woman to be familiar with her normal breast structure and helps her to learn to notice any unusual changes in her breast tissue (Akhtari-Zavare et al, 2013;Fotedar et al, 2013).…”

Teaching Breast Cancer Screening via Text Messages as Part of Continuing Education for Working Nurses: A Case-control Study

“…Sreedharan et al investigated knowledge and practice of breast self exam in 154 nurses working in the United Arab Emirates hospitals via a self-administered structured questionnaire and made out satisfactory results (Sreedharan et al, 2010). Yousuf et al examined general knowledge about breast cancer and its risk factors in 210 Saudi nurses practicing in primary health care centers (Yousuf et al, 2012) while Fotedar et al investigated the knowledge of nurses about breast cancer risk factors and methods of early detection in 457 nurses in a medical college in India (Fotedar et al, 2013); Ozkan et al assessed the level of knowledge as well as beliefs about breast self examination in 113 nursing and midwifery students (Ozkan et al, 2010) and Andsoy et al carried out a study to investigate knowledge of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening among 226 working nurses (Andsoy and Gul, 2014). All these researchers concluded that adequate awareness about the subject may be raised in nurses by establishing continuing education programs.…”