Abstract

KNOWLEDGE OF BREAST CANCER AMONG URBAN WOMEN IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Abu Ansar Md Rizwan*, Probal Kumar Mondal, Smita Roy, Shah Md. Imtiaj, Vulon Prosad, Md. Foqrul Hasan, Zannatul Raiyana, Mohammad Shamsul Huda, A. B. M. Mokbul Hossen

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Abstract

Breast cancer continues to be the most fatal malignancy among women and is now a secret burden that is responsible for a significant portion of female fatalities. The most prevalent invasive malignancy in women worldwide is breast cancer. Breast cancer can be prevented with the support of a good diet, a balanced lifestyle, and sound understanding. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of breast cancer knowledge among urban women in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at a public medical college hospital in Bangladesh's capital city of Dhaka. All women older than 20 who attended the hospital's outpatient services during the data-collecting period make up the study population. The estimated sample size was 354, and information was gathered by conducting inperson interviews with the chosen respondents while using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that, overall, just 24.89 percent of respondents had excellent knowledge of breast cancer, while 52.58 percent had good knowledge and the remaining 22.53 percent had poor knowledge. The amount of breast cancer knowledge among respondents was shown to be substantially correlated with both their age and educational attainment. It is crucial to create an efficient health education program that will serve a wide range of people from various educational, social, and cultural backgrounds because knowledge is crucial for the early detection and prompt treatment of breast cancer. To generalize the results, a study of a comparable kind should be carried out with a bigger sample size in various locations.

Keywords: Knowledge, breast cancer, urban, women, Bangladesh.