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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2016; 37(04): 286-292
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.195752
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Cognizance and utilization about breast cancer screening among the health professional female students and staffs of University Kuala Lumpur, Royal College of Medicine Perak, Malaysia

ATM Emdadul Haque
Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kuala Lumpur-Royal College of Medicine Perak (UniKL RCMP), Ipoh, Malaysia
,
Muhammad Afif Bin Mohd Hisham
Year-3 MBBS Student, UniKL RCMP, Ipoh, Malaysia
,
Noor Azwa Laili Binti Ahmad Adzman
Year-3 MBBS Student, UniKL RCMP, Ipoh, Malaysia
,
Nur Atiqah Binti Azudin
Year-3 MBBS Student, UniKL RCMP, Ipoh, Malaysia
,
Nursakinah Binti Shafri
Year-3 MBBS Student, UniKL RCMP, Ipoh, Malaysia
,
Mainul Haque
Unit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Defense Health, National Defense University of , Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a major life-threatening problem and a global concern including Malaysia. BC is an equal threat for both developing and developed countries. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between sociodemographic factors with knowledge, attitude, and perception on BC screening among the females of University Kuala Lumpur, Royal College of Medicine Perak (UniKL RCMP). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2015 to 2016. The populations included were the students and staff of UniKL RCMP. The simple sampling method was used and a set of questionnaire was prepared and distributed to the participants who were willing to participate. The data were analyzed by using the SPSS version 17. Results: Of the 220 only 203 questionnaires were returned. Nearly 87.7% of participants indicated genetic factors as the cause of BC, followed by exposure to carcinogenic and X-ray. Excessive smoking (54.2%) and sedentary lifestyle (52.2%) were the risk factors of the BC. 100% of participants thought that breast self-examination (BSE) is important to detect a breast lump and most of them (76.8%) knew what a mammogram is but only 2.0% went for a mammogram. Chemotherapy (71.9%) and surgery (71.9%) were treatments options according to study participants. Nearly 91.1% agreed that regular mammogram could help to detect BC at an early stage. Nearly 88.2% thought BC is not easily curable. Finally, for the attitude on BC screening, most of them knew how to perform BSE (69.0%) with the frequency of 36.0% doing it once a year. Conclusions: The majority of the participants found the good knowledge on BC and on how to perform BSE. Although most of them knew what a mammogram is, only a few have gone for it since perhaps it is recommended for those who are above 50-year-old. Therefore, researchers believe and trust that there is an urgent need of state-funded multicenter study to prevent and early diagnosis of BC in Malaysia.

Keywords

Awareness - breast cancer screening - females - Malaysia - practice - “University Kuala Lumpur - Royal College of Medicine Perak”


Publication History

Article published online:
12 July 2021

© 2016. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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