Awareness and Knowledge of Breast Cancer among three Major Professional Groups of Women in Nigeria: a Comparative Assessment

Background: Despite cancer being a major killer-disease among women in both developing and developed countries of the world today; the nature of professional involvement of women could affect their access to knowledge and awareness of breast cancer. Aim: To compare the awareness and general knowledge of breast cancer among three groups of professional women in Ibadan; Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive comparative analytical survey design was used for the study. Data collection from the participants was by a self-developed structured questionnaire. A total number of 600 participants - 200 nurses; 200 secondary school teachers and 200 bankers were selected by a random sampling technique. The data was analyzed using both parametric and non-parametric statistics. Results: Statistically significant differences (P 0.05) were found in the awareness and general knowledge of breast cancer by the three professional groups of women. Also; significant gaps were found between the respondents' general knowledge of breast cancer and their practice of self-breast examination (P 0.001). Conclusions: Although nurses showed adequate awareness and general knowledge of breast cancer; the other professional women were rather deficient in knowledge and would need public health education on breast cancer. Meanwhile; there is obvious need to bridge the gap between the respondents' knowledge of the disease and breast self-examination for early detection and favourable outcome of treatment of the disease