Ahmed Faiza, Mahmud Sadia, Hatcher Juanita, Khan Shaista M
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
BMC Nurs. 2006 Sep 19;5:6. doi: 10.1186/1472-6955-5-6.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in both the developed and the developing world. The incidence of breast cancer in Karachi, Pakistan is 69.1 per 100,000 with breast cancer presentation in stages III and IV being common (>or= 50%). The most pragmatic solution to early detection lies in breast cancer education of women. Nurses constitute a special group having characteristics most suited for disseminating breast cancer information to the women. We assessed the level of knowledge of breast cancer risk factors among registered female nurses in teaching hospitals of Karachi. We also identified whether selected factors among nurses were associated with their knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, so that relevant measures to improve knowledge of nurses could be implemented.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in seven teaching hospitals of Karachi using stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. A total of 609 registered female nurses were interviewed using a structured questionnaire adapted from the Stager's Comprehensive Breast Cancer Knowledge Test. Knowledge of breast cancer risk factors was categorized into good, fair and poor categories. Ordinal regression was used to identify factors associated with risk knowledge among nurses.
Thirty five percent of nurses had good knowledge of risk factors. Graduates from private nursing schools (aOR = 4.23, 95% CI: 2.93, 6.10), nurses who had cared for breast cancer patients (aOR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.99), those having received a breast examination themselves (aOR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.26) or those who ever examined a patient's breast (aOR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.34, 2.61) were more likely to have good knowledge.
A relatively small proportion of the nursing population had good level of knowledge of the breast cancer risk factors. This knowledge is associated with nursing school status, professional breast cancer exposure and self history of clinical breast examination. Since only about one-third of the nurses had good knowledge about risk factors, there is a need to introduce breast cancer education in nursing schools particularly in the public sector. Continuing nursing education at the workplace can be of additional benefit.
在发达国家和发展中国家，乳腺癌都是女性中最常见的癌症。在巴基斯坦卡拉奇，乳腺癌的发病率为每10万人中有69.1例，且Ⅲ期和Ⅳ期乳腺癌较为常见（≥50%）。早期发现乳腺癌最切实可行的解决办法在于对女性进行乳腺癌教育。护士是一个特殊群体，其特性最适合向女性传播乳腺癌信息。我们评估了卡拉奇各教学医院注册女护士对乳腺癌危险因素的知晓水平。我们还确定了护士中的某些选定因素是否与她们对乳腺癌危险因素的知晓情况相关，以便能够采取相关措施来提高护士的知识水平。
在卡拉奇的七家教学医院采用按比例分配的分层随机抽样方法进行横断面调查。使用从施塔格综合乳腺癌知识测试改编而来的结构化问卷对总共609名注册女护士进行了访谈。对乳腺癌危险因素的知晓情况分为良好、一般和较差三类。采用有序回归分析来确定护士中与危险因素知识相关的因素。
35%的护士对危险因素有良好的知晓。私立护理学校的毕业生（调整后比值比[aOR]=4.23，95%置信区间[CI]：2.93，6.10）、护理过乳腺癌患者的护士（aOR=1.41，95%CI：1.00，1.99）、自己接受过乳房检查的护士（aOR=1.56，95%CI：1.08，2.26）或曾检查过患者乳房的护士（aOR=1.87，95%CI：1.34，2.61）更有可能有良好的知晓。
护理人群中对乳腺癌危险因素有良好知晓水平的比例相对较小。这种知晓情况与护理学校类型、专业接触乳腺癌以及自身临床乳房检查史有关。由于只有约三分之一的护士对危险因素有良好的知晓，因此有必要在护理学校，特别是公立护理学校开展乳腺癌教育。在工作场所开展继续护理教育可能会带来额外的益处。
