Abstract
PurposeBreast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. Educational and awareness programs impact early practices of breast self-examination, resulting in the early detection of cancer and thereby decreasing mortality. The study aimed to assess the levels of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer and breast self-examination among medical and nursing students in Oman and to compare their knowledge, attitudes, and skills after a training program.MethodsThis quasi-experimental study was carried out for female 90 medical and 80 nursing students in Oman in November 2019. A pre-test questionnaire was given before the training program and a post-test questionnaire was administered after the training program. Students’ knowledge, attitude, and skills regarding breast cancer and breast self-examination were compared. Scores for skills of practicing breast self-examination were compared between lecture and activity group and lecture-only group.ResultsPre-test and post-test data were collected from 170 female students. Significant improvements were observed in the post-test scores for students’ knowledge, attitude, and skills after the intervention (P<0.001). The mean scores for skills of practicing breast self-examination after the lecture and the activity were higher than those obtained after the lecture only (P=0.014 for medical students and P=0.016 for nursing students).ConclusionAn educational training program on breast cancer and breast self-examination with an emphasis on skills can motivate participants to perform breast self-examination regularly, and may therefore help students to train other women to perform breast self-examination for the early detection of breast cancer.
Highlights
Background/rationale Breast cancer is one of the major cancers leading to morbidity and mortality among women in the Sultanate of Oman
This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer and breast self-examination among medical and nursing students in Oman and to compare their knowledge, attitudes, and skills before and after a planned teaching program
A statistically significant improvement was observed in the post-test scores for knowledge, attitudes, skills after the intervention (P
Summary
Background/rationale Breast cancer is one of the major cancers leading to morbidity and mortality among women in the Sultanate of Oman. According to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Health, extending through 2015, it accounts for 26.9% of all cancer cases. One out of 5 Omani women is diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and the overall standardized incidence rate is 15.6 cases per 100,000 [2]. The frequency of cancers among Omani women increased steadily from 64 in 2003 to 212 per 100,000 in 2015. Breast self-examination has been reported to be effective in detecting the early symptoms of breast cancer, and early detection in turn greatly reduces mortality from breast cancer. With the collaboration of various professionals in the health care sector and with the help of their expertise, it will be easier to achieve this common goal
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