The Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior Towards Breast Cancer Screening Methods Among Female Teachers in Tehran

Introduction & Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and can be cured if detected at early stages. Our aim was to determine the knowledge, attitude and behavior of female teachers in Tehran towards breast cancer screening methods. A structured self-administered questionnaire was designed and teachers from schools located in different parts of Tehran were asked to fill them. The questionnaire included items about demographic characteristics, baseline knowledge about breast cancer, breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE), and mammography. Their attitude about screening methods was assessed using a Likert scale. Behavior towards screening methods was also assessed by asking questions about number of times they had undergone breast cancer screening and its frequency. From 125 teachers that were asked to fill the questionnaire, 77 teachers (61.6%) returned them. Their age ranged from 24-54 years without, with the mean 39.8 ± 8.0 (SD). Their level of education ranged from 12-18 years with the mean of 15.4 ± 1.8 (SD). Only 3 cases knew the correct age for starting BSE and 39% knew that it should be performed each month. 57.1% knew how to perform BSE correctly. Only 4 cases (5.2%) knew the correct age to start CBE and 9 cases (11.7%) knew its frequency. The appropriate age for starting mammography and its frequency were correctly answered by 20.8% and 35.1% of the participants, respectively. The attitudes regarding the implementation of screening methods were favorable. BSE was not performed in the past 2 years by 50.6% and 27.3% did it 2-3 times in a year. Fifty-five cases (71.5%) had never referred for a CBE and those who had referred, did it with a mean period of 16.5 months. Twenty-five cases were aged over 40 and 15 of them had no history of mammography. Our results show a moderate level of knowledge about screening methods and a positive attitude towards them. However, most of the women do not practice screening methods.