Knowledge, attitude and practice of breast self examination and breast cancer among female medical students in Taif, Saudi Arabia

Introduction and Research Problem: Breast cancer is the most common of all female cancers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Different studies conducted in the Kingdom have shown that knowledge of females regarding breast cancer is poor. Aim of the study was to determine knowledge, attitude and practice among students of Saudi female medical university towards Breast Self Examination (BSE) and also to explore their knowledge about breast cancer. Research Methodology: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted at Faculty of Medicine, Taif University during October 2013. Sample size was 378 with mean age of 19.9 ± 1.5. A self administrated questionnaire was used to obtain data about knowledge, attitude and practice towards BSE and knowledge about breast cancer. Data were collected and fed to SPSS version 16. Shape of distribution for numerical data was tested by using one sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Chi-Square Test & Fissure Exact Test (FET) were used for testing relation between categorical variables while correlation analysis was used to test the strength of relation between numeric variables. Main Results: The study revealed that only 8.2% of participants had good overall knowledge about breast cancer and BSE. Although 66% of the study sample had positive attitude towards BSE, only 17% reported that they practiced BSE monthly. A significant positive moderate correlation was found between overall knowledge score and attitude towards BSE (r = 0.449 & p = 0.000). The same was for the frequency of BSE practice but it was found to be in a weak magnitude (r = 0.223 & p = 0.000). Conclusion and Recommendations: Although there was lack of knowledge about breast cancer and BSE yet, positive attitude towards BSE was encouraging. Most female medical students in our sample did not perform BSE or perform it irregularly. Therefore, more intensified awareness programs among students of medical university are necessary to keep in view their current status of breast cancer and BSE knowledge. Further researches are needed to identify causes of inadequate knowledge and practice of BSE among medical students in Taif.

Tobacco use among population sub-groups: A gender analysis

Women comprise 20% of world’s billion smokers. Especially troubling is raising prevalence of tobacco use among girls. In fact, it is expected that 20% of women in developing/developed countries will be smokers by 2025. This study analytically compares knowledge, attitudes, and practices of tobacco use, by gender, among 4 sub-populations in Alexandria, Egypt. Methods: A cross sectional approach was used for 4 subgroups (high school students, university students, shopping malls/clubs’ attendees, employees of health-related facilities), 1000 each (total sample size = 4000). A modified version of WHO questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Smoking prevalence was generally higher among males (29%-44%) compared to females (2% - 9%) in the studied groups. Cafeterias were preferable smoking places for both genders, especially among high school/university students. Most smokers in the 4 subgroups reported that most or all their friends were smokers. Mean knowledge scores were found to be higher among male employees/high school students, compared to females in the same sub-groups. Mean attitude scores towards smoking were higher among females (i.e. against smoking) in the 4 sub-samples. Conclusion & Recommendations: Tobacco use among males is generally higher among males, but females seem to be catching up. Social gatherings seem to attract many youngsters, of both genders, to smoke in public, especially waterpipe (which is a growing epidemic of tobacco use in our communities). Mass community- and gender-based health awareness campaigns are needed, using different channels, including school-based health education interventions, at the earliest age possible.