Breast cancer awareness among female school teachers in Makkah region, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent malignancy of women and second leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. In Saudi Arabia, is the ninth cause of death. Few studies have been conducted to address BC awareness in KSA in general and to our knowledge, this is the first to be conducted in Makkah region. Aim: To assess the level of awareness knowledge, attitude of Saudi female teachers towards BC in primary, intermediate and secondary schools in Makkah region. Method and materials: The study proposal was approved by the Research Ethical Committee in faculty of medicine, Umm Al-Qura University. A self-administered questionnaire on BC was designed and tested. Questionnaire consisted of 23 items covered four domains (awareness about the aetiology, knowledge about BC risk factors, symptoms, knowledge about diagnosis and treatment & attitude toward screening). A sample of 400 female school teachers working in primary, intermediate and secondary schools was selected by multistage random sampling. Forty schools in Makkah were selected randomly, and a convenient sample of 10 teachers from each school was randomly selected as well. Proper permission was obtained from the authorities. The collected data statistically analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: The results showed significant knowledge & attitude about BC among the female teachers differed significantly by their age and marital status. Those aged 46-55 (F = 8.5, p > 0.00) and those who are married (F = 2.7, p > 0.04) had more knowledge about BC than others. The majority of respondents had limited level of knowledge and understanding of BC symptoms. However, it also showed that the teachers are very enthusiastic to learn about BC, and its prevention. Most participants reported that they did not perform any breast exam before (40/%). Conclusions and recommendation: This study indicated that Saudi female teachers’ level of knowledge of BC is inadequate. This might be an obstacle to screening program. Public-awareness interventions are needed in order to overcome an ever-increasing burden of this disease among Saudi females and introducing and develop an effective health education program in female schools in KSA is recommended.