Agidew MM, Cherie N, Damtie Z, Adane B, Derso G. Impact of family history of breast disease on knowledge, attitudes, and breast cancer preventive practices among reproductive-age females. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(4): 101788 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i4.101788]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Melaku Mekonnen Agidew, BSc, MSc, Lecturer, Researcher, Department of Biochemistry, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, P.O. Box 272, Debre Tabor 6300, Amhara, Ethiopia. agidewmelaku16@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Melaku Mekonnen Agidew, Department of Biochemistry, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor 6300, Amhara, Ethiopia
Niguss Cherie, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie 1145, Amhara, Ethiopia
Zemene Damtie, Public Health, Wadila District Health Office, Wadila 1111, Amhara, Ethiopia
Bezawit Adane, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Injibara University, Injibara 6040, Amhara, Ethiopia
Girma Derso, Non-Communicable Disease, Amhara Regional State Health Bureau, Bahir Dar 495, Amhara, Ethiopia
Author contributions: Agidew MM, Cherie N, and Damtie Z participated in the conception, design, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation; Agidew MM, Cherie N, Damtie Z, Adane B, and Derso G revised the manuscript for important intellectual content and approved it to be published.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Research Review Ethical Committees of Zemen Postgraduate College through a formal letter having ethical approval code “ZPGC/00325/14” prior to the initiation of data and sample collection. An official collaboration letter was also obtained from the College for the purposes of data collection and analysis.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was attained by signing a form from all eligible participants, and all ethical guidelines were strictly followed throughout the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets utilized and/or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Melaku Mekonnen Agidew, BSc, MSc, Lecturer, Researcher, Department of Biochemistry, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, P.O. Box 272, Debre Tabor 6300, Amhara, Ethiopia. agidewmelaku16@gmail.com
Received: September 26, 2024 Revised: November 27, 2024 Accepted: February 8, 2025 Published online: April 24, 2025 Processing time: 180 Days and 23.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, presenting an increasing public health challenge, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. However, data on the knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices regarding breast cancer and the associated factors among females in Wollo, Ethiopia, remain limited.
AIM
To assess the impact of family history (FH) of breast disease on knowledge, attitudes, and breast cancer preventive practices among reproductive-age females.
METHODS
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in May and June 2022 in Northeast Ethiopia and involved 143 reproductive-age females with FH of breast diseases and 209 without such a history. We selected participants using the systematic random sampling technique. We analyzed the data using Statistical Package for Social Science version 25 software, and logistic regression analysis was employed to determine odds ratios for variable associations, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05.
RESULTS
Among participants with FH of breast diseases, the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices were found to be 83.9% [95% confidence interval (CI): 77.9-89.9], 49.0% (95%CI: 40.8-57.1), and 74.1% (95%CI: 66.9-81.3), respectively. In contrast, among those without FH of breast diseases, these levels were significantly decreased to 10.5% (95%CI: 6.4-14.7), 32.1% (95%CI: 25.7-38.4), and 16.7% (95%CI: 11.7-21.8), respectively. This study also indicated that knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices related to breast cancer are significantly higher among participants with FH of breast diseases compared to those without HF breast diseases.
CONCLUSION
Educational status, monthly income, and community health insurance were identified as significant factors associated with the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices regarding breast cancer among reproductive-age females.
Core Tip: This study evaluated knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices related to breast cancer among reproductive-age females indicating the necessity for further study in this area. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices related to breast cancer were significantly higher among participants with a family history of breast diseases. Educational status, monthly income, and community health insurance were significant factors associated with the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices regarding breast cancer.
