Abstract

Objective:
To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of breast cancer (BC) among women in Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia during 2023-2024.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among women in the Al-Qassim region, of Saudi Arabia. Participants were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Then an online self-administered (Arabic version) consisted of five parts was used to collect the data.
Results:
The study included 384 women with different age categories (≤35 to≥ 56 years). Majority of the participants lived in urban areas (86.2%). Most of the participants had no health insurance coverage (79.4%) and had no family history of breast cancer (81.5%). Only 20.8% participants had experienced breast-related problems previously, and 8.1% participants were experiencing breast-related problems during the study period. The most common problems were breast pain (n=16, 50%) or lump (n=10, 31.3%). Most of the participants (95.6%) thought that breast cancer is curable in the early stage and the early detection of BC increases the cure rate (96.4%). Only 225 participants (58.6%) had heard about mammography previously.
Conclusion:
Among the study participants there was not adequate knowledge about breast cancer signs, symptoms, and risk factors. The knowledge about mammography was significantly associated with having previous breast problems, work status, the knowledge about breast cancer signs, symptoms, or risk factors, and the awareness that breast cancer is curable in early stage and early detection.

Key words: Knowledge, attitudes, practice, breast cancer, mammography.