Breast cancer screening: How knowledgeable are female staff of a public university?
- Author:
Nor Afiah MZ
;
Hejar AR
;
Looi YK
;
Lim SJ
;
Ng CY
;
Tong CY
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Breast cancer, screening, knowledge, information literacy.
- From:
The International Medical Journal Malaysia
2011;10(1):23-30
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and in Malaysia. It has better
cure rate if detected early. However, the practice of breast cancer screening in Malaysia is still low. The
objective of this study is to determine the knowledge and its associated factors as well as sources of information
on breast cancer and breast cancer screening among female staff in a public university in Malaysia.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted in 2005 involving 394 female staff including
academic and non-academic staff, which was selected by cluster sampling. A self-administered questionnaire
on socioeconomic characteristics and family history of breast cancer was used for data collection. Chi-square
Test and Fisher’s Exact Test was used for testing an association using SPSS 12.0. Results: The response rate was
84.3%. Only 50.9% had high knowledge on breast cancer and breast cancer screening and this was significantly
associated with occupational status, monthly family income and educational level (p<0.05). The usual source
of information was mass media (92.2%) while the most preferred source is the health team (71.4%).
Conclusion: As mass media was a major source of information, all types of mass media could efficiently be utilized
to disseminate knowledge by presenting specific programmes associated with breast cancer and breast
cancer screening.
