Knowledge and practice of Jordanian women towards breast cancer and breast self-examination : a cross-sectional study in 2006

Abstract EN

Objective : to determine the knowledge of Breast cancer and practices of Breast Self-Examination among Jordanian women aged 20 years and above.

Methods : A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the Jordanian women’s knowledge and practices about Breast Cancer and Breast-Self Examination.

A sample of 5,230 women aged 20 years and above was recruited in proportion to size of the population in the different governorates.

Systematic sampling method was used to select the subjects from the attendees to the Comprehensive Health Centers during the period from September 1st and November 30th 2006.

A specially designed questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic data and knowledge about Breast Cancer and Breast-Self Examination.

The interviewers were trained for consistent data collection during the interviews.

The questionnaire was tested on a pilot sample of 150 women, who were excluded from the study.

Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 13.

Simple descriptive statistics : frequencies, means, and percentages were used to describe the study findings.

Results : of 5230 women, 87 % knew that breast cancer was the most prevalent cancer among women, 71 % knew what a Breast-Self Examination is.

About 48 % were practicing Breast-Self Examination and 58 % had got the information about Breast-Self Examination from the media.

Conclusion : there is a need for developing health education programs about symptoms and early signs of breast cancer with emphasis on the importance of early breast cancer detection.

Breast-self-examination should be encouraged.

Additionally, the role of the media regarding awareness about prevention and early detection of Breast Cancer needs to be increased.

The health education programs and mass media education should be targeted towards females in the age group between 20 years and above, ideally those 35 years of age and above.

Further research regarding knowledge and practice of Jordanian women towards breast cancer is recommended.