Publication: Knowledge and attitude towards women’s breast cancer and its associated factor among male employees of Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus
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Date
2022
Authors
Hadis, Nur Ili Syazwani Md
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Abstract
Introduction: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among Malaysian women. When first diagnosed, half of Malaysia's breast cancer patients were already at an advanced stage. One of contributing factor to the delay was a lack of knowledge and negative attitude about breast cancer. Even though breast cancer is more common in women than in men, men should still be sufficiently informed of it because it can affect how women decide to pursue their health. So, the primary goal of this study is to evaluate factors that are pertinent to men's awareness about women’s breast cancer and attitudes toward breast cancer. Aside from that, we would like to investigate any links between men's knowledge and attitudes regarding women’s breast cancer. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus in Kelantan among male employees who are more than 20 years old and can read Malay. They received a validated newly developed questionnaire which consist sociodemographic characteristics, 32 knowledge-related items, and 16 attitude-related items. Results: The prevalence of good knowledge was 61.9%. Almost half of them aware about signs and symptoms of breast cancer. About 40% known that mammogram should done starting at age 50 years old in women who is healthy and without any risk. Only 15.8% and 21.3% men willing to married women who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and who underwent mastectomy respectively. However, the majority (91.2%) stated they would support their wife or mother if they were diagnosed with breast cancer. Those working in clinical jobs, higher family income, have health insurance and know with certainty about their wife or 1st degree relatives previous mammogram screening were significantly associated to good knowledge on breast cancer. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient, we looked at whether more knowledgeable male staff members also have positive attitudes toward breast cancer. The relationship between knowledge and attitudes is 0.27, which is statistically significant but only weakly positive. Conclusion: The findings show that additional efforts are needed to increase men's knowledge about breast cancer, as men have a significant influence on women's health. Although there is a significant weak correlation between knowledge and attitude, clinically it has a positive impact on our community.
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