Knowledge And Awareness Of Breast Cancer And Mammography Among Women In Klang, Selangor.

Breast cancer (BC) is considered as one of the most common cancers among women and almost 2.1 million women are diagnosed with it each year around the world. The high mortality rate by breast cancer is mainly because of the late diagnosis of breast cancer which is because of the lack of awareness and knowledge about breast cancer itself and its screening methods among women. The gradually increasing mortality rate can be decreased by early detection of breast cancer. A validated questionnaire was adopted from a similar study that was done in Shah Alam, Selangor. The questionnaire consists of three sections namely sociodemographic status, knowledge about breast cancer and awareness of mammography. Most of the respondents (84.1%) stated that breast cancer is the most common cancer in Malaysia. In terms of risk factors, the majority (96.2%) of the respondents stated that genetic and family history is a risk of breast cancer while only 3.8% of them did not. 15 respondents received knowledge scores of which are less than 8 (very poor), 46 respondents have obtained scores from 8 to 11 (poor), 56 respondents have obtained scores from 12 to 16 (moderate) and 15 respondents have obtained scores from 17 to 20 (good). None of the respondents obtained scores of more than 20 (very good). This study shows that the respondents have very poor to moderate level of breast cancer knowledge. Mammography awareness was acceptable among the respondents as more than half of them knew about it