Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Breast Cancer Screening among Female General Practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Abstract:Background: Breast cancer has been ranked as the 1 st cancer in women in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Screening, early detection and proper treatment of Breast Cancer was associated with more chances of better prognosis and long-term survival. The role general practitioner's role is to provide professional knowledge, skills and support for patients as well as their caregiver about screening and prevention. This study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge of Breast Cancer risk factors, beliefs, diagnosis and practice of Breast Self Examination, Clinical Breast Examination and mammography among female General Practitioners who are currently working in primary health care center in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire among female physicians, currently working as General Practitioners in Primary Health Care centers were invited. Descriptive statistics: mean, standard deviation, frequencies, percentage were calculated. Results: The majority (90%) of the respondents believed that Breast Cancer is a major health problem and 96% were aware of the importance of mammography as a screening method. But only 19% of the studied physicians requested mammogram as screening tool for women aged 40 years or more. Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that knowledge about breast cancer screening was satisfactory and highlighted the need for the provision of continuing medical education programs to improve the general practitioners' practice on cancer screening tools.

Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors: A Study of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…These findings were in agreement with the majority of previous studies carried out to explore the correlates of knowledge about cancer in general and CRC in particular, among general population, worldwide [20,21,26,27].…”

Psychosocial Aspects of Female Breast Cancer in the Middle East and North Africa

“…In Palestine, only 15% of doctors recommended breast exams to their patients; 48% of them remarked that they did not know if radiotherapy was available to women in Gaza. Similarly, only 19% of female practitioners in Saudi Arabia ordered a mammogram for women over 40 years of age despite their high level of knowledge about breast cancer risk factors [ 64 ]. Therefore, the lack of physicians’ recommendations for screening was highlighted in most of the countries.…”

Connaissances des médecins généralistes de Mohammedia (Maroc) concernant le dépistage du cancer du sein

“…La majorité des MG (88,2%) considéraient le cancer du sein comme un problème de santé publique au Maroc. Ceci était compatible avec l´étude faite en Arabie Saoudite [ 18 ], l'étude faite au Nigeria [ 19 ] et l'étude faite à Fès [ 20 ], où respectivement 90%, 86.7% et 88.6% des Médecins considéraient le cancer du sein comme un problème de santé publique dans leurs pays. On a constaté qu'il y avait une tendance à la diminution des connaissances des médecins concernant ces outils avec l'augmentation de l'ancienneté d'exercice.…”

“…Le facteur de risque le plus rapporté pas les MG était la présence d'ATCD familiaux de cancer du sein (86.8%). Ce chiffre est similaire à ceux constaté dans d'autres études faites au Canada (99 %) [ 22 ], au Pakistan (96 %) [ 23 ], en Arabie Saoudite (91.9%) [ 18 ] et à Fès (93.6%) [ 20 ]. L'utilisation des contraceptifs comme facteur de risque du cancer du sein a été identifiée par 56.6% des MG, des pourcentages plus élevées ont été rapportés par une étude réalisée à Rabat (78%) [ 8 ], l'étude réalisée à Fès (71.7%) [ 20 ], un pourcentage plus faible a été retrouvé dans une étude Angolaise (38%) [ 24 ].…”