Overview
To assess breast cancer awareness among recently diagnosed breast cancer Egyptian patients.
Among 289 interviewed breast cancer patients we enrolled 45 patients who fulfilled the study inclusion criteria. Participants were asked to answer a validated 60-item questionnaire that inquires about socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of breast cancer symptoms, risk factors, symptoms, prevention, general management and willingness to participate in awareness campaigns. The average of interview time was about 45聽min, depending on patient's age and education level.
The mean age of included patients was 48.2聽卤聽10.19 years. Geographical distribution revealed that 66.7% patients were from Cairo and the rest were from other governorates, including Aswan, Sharqia, Mansora, Qena, Kalyobia, Elminya and Sohag. Among interviewed patients 85% were non-working housewives, 42.2% of them were illiterate. Questions about knowledge of breast cancer revealed that 53.33% of patients knew an acquaintance with breast cancer; however, they spent a median time of 3 months to seek medical advice after recognizing the first symptom with a delay range between a month and 72 months. We found that 73% of the participants presented to a physician with the same first recognized symptom and 75.6% didn't think of cancer then as a possible diagnosis. Total breast cancer knowledge scores had an average of 13.3 (out of 35 knowledge points), with 93% of the patients recognizing 鈥減ainless breast mass鈥?as a breast cancer symptom and 44% only recognized the concept of breast self examination. Interestingly, 61.4% identified breastfeeding as a risk factor for breast cancer, 60% did not recognize mammography as an early detection method, and 57.7% agreed that clinical breast examination (CBE) is important for early detection. Regarding management, 75% said breast cancer was potentially curable and 60% said medical care could be helpful regardless the age of presentation.
Egyptian breast cancer patients knew little about their condition. Less awareness was related to age and education level. Low knowledge of risk factors, early detection and management of breast cancer should be addressed by designing patient education programs, where less educated patients are supported by health care professionals to participate in the management of breast cancer. Moreover, we found that 67% and 97% of enrolled breast cancer patients were willing as well to participate in spreading awareness among their community and among their own families, respectively.