Abstract
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among females worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice about breast cancer and its related factors among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 508 women aged 18 to 55 years from four non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Baghdad city, Iraq. A self-administered questionnaire on breast cancer knowledge and practice was distributed to participants during weekly activity of the NGO. A total of 61.2% of the respondents had poor knowledge, only 30.3% performed breast self-examination (BSE) and 41.8% said that they did not know the technique to perform BSE. Associations between knowledge and marital status and age were significant. For practice, working status, education, age and family income were significant. After controlling for cofounders, the most important contributing factors for poor knowledge among respondents were marital status and not performing BSE, with adjusted odds ratio of 1.6 and 1.8 respectively. Breast cancer knowledge and practice of BSE are poor among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. More promotion regarding breast cancer signs and symptoms and also how to perform BSE should be conducted using media such as television and internet as these constituted the main sources of information for most women in our study.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women all over the world, nearly about 23% of 1.1 million women cancer diagnosed newly each year (Parkin et al, 2005; Parkin et al, 2006)
The objective of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and practice about breast cancer among women residing in Baghdad city, Iraq
We explored the knowledge and practice among general population in Baghdad city, Iraq
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women all over the world, nearly about 23% of 1.1 million women cancer diagnosed newly each year (Parkin et al, 2005; Parkin et al, 2006). A recent study showed that 23,792 breast cancer cases were registered among females in Iraq aged 15 years old and above. This number represented 33.8% of the total cancer cases among females from 2000-2009 registered in Iraq (Al-Hashimi and wang, 2014). One of the studies that had been done in East Mediterranean Region showed different results regarding breast cancer knowledge and the practice of selfexamination in which only a few respondents have correct information about BSE, it’s timing and frequency (Alwan et al, 2012). The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice about breast cancer and its related factors among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. Conclusions: Breast cancer knowledge and practice of BSE are poor among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. More promotion regarding breast cancer signs and symptoms and how to perform BSE should be conducted using media such as television and internet as these constituted the main sources of information for most women in our study
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