Knowledge, Perception, and Risk Awareness about Breast Cancer among Nursing Staff in a General Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Context: Early diagnosis of cancer improves chances of survival, and primary care nurses are more likely to encounter cancer signs and refer them to specialists. Aim: To assess knowledge of breast cancer (BC), its risk factors, and symptoms among female nurses in a Saudi hospital. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study of female nurses of a general hospital in Saudi Arabia. Methods and Material: Female nurses with permanent jobs were included in the study. Under-training nurses were excluded from the study. Data was collected through a questionnaire containing 18 questions. Statistical Analysis Used: Frequencies and percentages of all the variables and regression analysis were done on IBM SPSS software. Results: A total of 80 female nurses participated in the study. The mean age of the study population was 28.1 +/- 1.6. Their work experience was 4.8 +/- 2 years. Those participants who could answer only <6 of the total 18 questions were graded to have "Poor" knowledge, those correctly answering 6-12 questions were graded to have "Moderate" knowledge, those answering 12-16 questions were graded to have "Good," and those answering >16 questions correctly were graded to have "Very good" knowledge. About 19% of the participants had "Poor" knowledge, about 39% of participants had "Moderate" knowledge, 26% had "Good" knowledge, and 16% had "Very good" knowledge. Regression analysis could not show the effects of age or experience on knowledge. Conclusions: One-fifth of nurses had poor BC knowledge, highlighting the need for awareness interventions.