Breast Cancer Awareness Among Nurses in Kumasi, Ghana: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice

Abstract

Background: There is no published data on breast cancer awareness among the Ghanaian population in the country.Objectives: To determine the level of breast cancer awareness of among nurses at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Kumasi.Method: A standard self-administered questionnaire was distributed among the qualified nurses (degree, diploma, and certificate-SRN holders) in the departments of Surgery, Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics at KATH. The questionnaire sought to investigate the level of knowledge on several aspects of breast cancer among the nurses; these include the symptoms, methods ofdiagnosis, risk factors, and methods of screening for the disease – breast self-examination, clinical breast examination and mammography. The completed questionnaire were retrieved, graded and scored. Results: The response rate was 53.9% (165/306). Mean knowledge score was 68.9%. Ninety respondents (54.5%) knew about one or two out of five risk factors. One hundred and fifty-nine participants (94.5%) thought that breast cancer was a serious disease. One –hundred and thirty-five respondents (81.8%) indicated that they would see a doctor on the same day that they develop breast cancerand 102(61.8%) would accept mastectomy as treatment of the disease. Breast self-examination was practiced by 119 or 72.0% of the respondents. Respondents who were highly knowledgeable of breast cancer practiced clinical breast examination more frequently (27/93); (8/72) (X2 = 9.4, p=0.001). The practice of all three screening methods was less frequent (>5%) among all the participants.Conclusion: In general terms the nurses at KATH have adequate knowledge about several aspects of breast cancer. Knowledge of risk factors, the practice of clinical breast examination and the use of mammography is low.