Knowledge, awareness and breast self-examination practice among Sutlan Ahmad Shah Medical Centre @International Islamic University Malaysia staff nurses: follow up 6 months study

• Main Authors: Sowtali, Siti Noorkhairina, Baharudin, Aini Shazwani, Mohamed Faizal, Fadhlin Farhanah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: RT82 Nursing As A Profession
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/93695/1/TEMPORARY%20BOOK%20OF%20ABSTRACT%20AINC%204%20FON%20USK.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/93695/2/27_Siti%20Noorkhairina%20Sowtali_KON%20IIUM.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/93695/; https://bit.ly/ZoomAINC4
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Introduction: Breast cancer is a progressive disease, thus early screening need to be done to ensure a good disease prognosis, where nurses play an important role as public’s health educator. Thus, there is a need for follow up studies on breast cancer and breast self-examination (BSE) to ensure that nurses’ knowledge on this matter is always updated. Objectives: The objectives are to determine the level of knowledge, awareness, and practice on breast cancer and BSE among staff nurses in SASMEC@IIUM in Kuantan, Pahang and to determine the association between socio-demographic factors towards knowledge, awareness, and practice on breast cancer and BSE among staff nurses in SASMEC@IIUM in Kuantan, Pahang. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 30 nurses in SASMEC@IIUM by using convenience sampling. A self-administered questionnaire is used to determine the level of knowledge, awareness and practice among staff nurses in this follow up study. The data is analysed through SPSS version 23.0 using the tests of descriptive statistic, Independent T-Test, One Way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation test. Results: Among 30 nurses involved, 86.7% are female, 96.7% are Malay, 66.7% are married, 26.7% with family history of cancer, while 13.3% with family history of breast cancer. Majority of them have moderate level of knowledge on risk factors and sign and symptoms of breast cancer, awareness on breast cancer and practice of BSE. There is an association found between nurses’ education level and knowledge of sign and symptoms of breast cancer (p=0.05), where nurses with degree has higher level of knowledge. Conclusion: As a conclusion, the level of knowledge, awareness and practice of breast cancer and BSE among nurses are still at a moderate level. Thus, an intervention needed to be done to overcome this matter.