EARLY BREAST CANCER DETECTION; KNOWLEDGE AMONG FEMALE MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

The objective of this study is to assess the level of knowledge of screening for early detection of breast cancer among female medical students.It is a cross sectional, questionnaire-derived conducted in Sialkot Medical College, Sialkot, Pakistan from January through March, 2022.One hundred and ten female students (22 per academic year of MBBS syllabus) were recruited using convenience sampling technique. A locally developed questionnaire including two segments viz. sociodemographic information, and knowledge of screening for early detection of breast cancer with 12 close-ended items (total potential score: 1x12 = 12) was served for self-reporting in open time. The degree of knowledge was classified, as: inadequate (score: 1-9) and adequate knowledge (10-12).The response rate of the students (aged: 20.54 ± 2.07 years) was found to be 96.4%. Only five subjects (i.e. 4.7% of total 106) reported history of the cancer in first degree relatives. Almost all the respondents i.e. 105 (99.1%) marked correct option against an item on social media as source of knowledge of the cancer followed by item on mammography. Similarly, they had more knowledge on breast self-examination than clinical breast-examination (maximal correct response: 87.7% vs. 85.8%, respectively). Majority of them (n

= 94, 88.7%) had adequate level of knowledge on screening for early detection of the tumor. Moreover, a remarkable difference in rate of adequate knowledge was recorded between rural (97.8%) and urban residents (82.0%).Female medical students have adequate level of knowledge on screening for early detection of breast cancer.