Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Breast Cancer Screening in Medical and Non-Medical Females Students of Lahore, Pakistan

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women all over the world and a leading cause of death in women of Pakistan. Programs promoting awareness about breast cancer, breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography are in place but still BSE is poorly practiced by females of Pakistan. Aims & Objectives: To assess and compare the knowledge, attitude and practice about breast cancer screening among female medical and non-medical students of two institutes in Lahore, Pakistan. Place and duration of study: Study conducted during May-June 2017 in Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical College and Kinnaird College University in Lahore, Pakistan. Material & Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted during May-June 2017 on a conveniently selected sample of 200 female students from two colleges in Lahore. A self-constructed and self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of breast cancer screening. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: Mean age of 21.66+1.50 and 22.58+ 2.138 was observed in medical and non-medical students respectively. In the age group 18-23 we had 85% of medical girls and 61% of non-medical while 39% of non-medical girls were in age group 24-29. Among 100 female medical students, 84% were knowledgeable about BSE as compared to 65% non-medical students. Knowledge was adequate for CBE in 74% and 53%, and for Mammography in 83% and 58% of medical and non-medical students respectively. The attitude was positive towards BSE in 92% and 75%, for CBE 89% and 74%, and for mammography 94% and 83% among medical and non-medical students respectively. The BSE practice was reported by 20% medical girls and only 13% non-medical girls, while CBE practice was in 13% medical and 5% non-medical girls. Conclusion: Medical students were more knowledgeable and had a better attitude about breast cancer screening as compared to non-medical girls but when it came to practice, it was found to be very low in both groups.