Evaluation of Breast Cancer Knowledge and Awareness Among Hospital Staff in a Women Heath Hospital in Turkey.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine breast cancer prevention knowledge, beliefs, and information sources among people which are employed in healthcare system including nurses and hospital staff. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital staff of the largest women health hospital in Turkey. Self-administered questionnaires were delivered to participants. A total of 200 hospital staff participated to the study with a response rate of 80.5 %. One-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey test was used for multiple comparisons. The results showed that the overall knowledge of hospital staff about breast cancer is inadequate. The mean total knowledge score of the participants was approximately 60 %. The overall mean score of the survey for all participants was 16.69 (SD, 3.12) out of 27. Significant difference was detected in mean total score among educational levels. Education and increasing awareness about the disease can be identified as the major determinants for improving the percentages of early diagnosis and decreasing the mortality rates. Hospital staff education should be the key target for increasing the awareness of whole population especially for developing countries.