Evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and skills among the health volunteers regarding the breast self-examination in Shahroud

Abstract

Introduction: Breast Cancer is the most worldwide spread cancer occurring and the second cause of death among the women. The mortality rate of breast cancer is directly related to the stages of illness at the time of its diagnosis and in the case of using regular breast cancer screening procedures, the rate will be decreased. Breast self-examination (BSE) is one of the most important procedures in early detection of breast cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude and skill of health volunteers about BSE.

Material and Methods: For this study, 89 health volunteers, aged 20-57, were selected randomly who were employed in Shahroud health centers. Their level of knowledge, attitude and skill about BSE were examind by a questionnaire and results were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods.

Results: Overall 63% of health volunteers have some information about the breast cancer and their knowledge about proper usage of BSE was at medium level. 51% of them knew the best time of BSE. Their attitude on BSE high (78%) and there was a significant difference between their attitude and marital status. 12.4% of were expert to do BSE.

Conclusion: Regarding to the results of this study, because of the medium level of knowledge and poor BSE skill of all health volunteers, some training courses for them is recommended as well as carrying out more researches to determine the factors that encourages women to accept cancer-screening methods .