Knowledge, attitude, and behavior among Saudis toward cancer preventive practice

Abstract

Objective:To examine self-reported knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices on cancer among Saudis.Materials and Methods:Data was collected from Saudis aged 15 years or more, who attended one of the randomly selected 20 Primary Health Centers (PHC) or the four major private hospitals located in the Riyadh region, either as patients or their escorts. The association between the variables was evaluated by the Chi square test.Results:The study population consisted of 618 males and 719 females. Among the female respondents 23.1% reported that they practiced breast self-examination (BSE); 14.2 and 8.1%, respectively, had clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography. However, 10.0 and 16.1% of the females, aged 40 years and older, reported having had mammograms and CBE, respectively. The BSE performers were more educated, knew someone with cancer, and had heard of the cancer warning signal. Both educational level and ‘heard of cancer warning signal’ were significantly related to CBE. Cancer information was received from television / radio by 65.1% and from the physician by 29.4%. Even though 69.4% believed that cancer could be detected early, a vast majority (95.8%) felt early detection of cancer was extremely desirable and 55.1% said their participation was definite in any screening program. A majority of the respondents (92.6%) insisted on the need for physician recommendation to participate and 78.1% expected that any such program should be conducted in the existing hospitals / clinics.Conclusion:Culturally sensitive health education messages should be tailored to fulfill the knowledge gap among all population strata. Saudis will benefit from partnerships between public health educators and media to speed up the dissemination of cancer information.

Women’s Performance of Breast Cancer Screening (Breast Self- Examination, Clinical Breast Exam and Mammography)

“…Our data indicated that young women (less than 40) have 100% practicing BSE while 38.9% and 29.3% among 40 to less 50 year old and more than 50 year old women, respectively. These reported results were not in line with Ravichandran et al study, where he found that there is no significant association between the different age groups and practicing BSE [10].…”

Awareness and Prevalence of Mammography Screening and its Predictors - A Cross Sectional Study in a Primary Care Clinic in Malaysia

“…Yet, the prevalence of mammography screening uptake in this study population was similar to the prevalence of 13.6% found among teachers in Selangor and of 10.5% in the general population of a sub-urban area in Terengganu. (Parsa and Kandiah, 2010;Rosmawati, 2010) A study conducted in Saudi Arabia also showed a similar prevalence of 10% among women who attended primary care clinics and hospital (Ravichandran et al, 2011 ). However studies from developed countries reported higher mammography uptake, ranging from 50 to 85%.…”

Factors that Influence Awareness of Breast Cancer Screening among Arab Women in Qatar: Results from a Cross Sectional Survey

“…Yet, the majority of women did not receive information about BCS from these health care providers. Thus, a multidisciplinary team approach that involves doctors, nurses, health educators, and pharmacists and includes regular discussions about breast cancer screening with patients would facilitate increased awareness and participation in BCS activities among women (Cohen and Azaiza, 2005;Alam, 2006;Al-Qattan et al, 2007;Dandash and Al-Mohaimeed, 2007 Hamdan and Mohamed, 2011;Ravichandran et al, 2011). In addition to the education level of the participant, a higher education level of the husband was associated with participant awareness of BCS.…”