Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of primary health care nurses and midwives in breast cancer early diagnosis applications

PURPOSE The purpose of this research was to analyze the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the nurses and midwives about the early diagnosis of breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study was carried out at 9 family medical centers (FMCs) and 1 community health center (CHC) in Bingol; the population of this research consisted of 25 midwives and 38 nurses. The protocol for this study was approved by the regional ethics committee of Bingol University. The study was performed in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The purpose of this study was explained to the nurses and midwives who participated, and their written and verbal permission was obtained; great care was taken to ensure that they understood participation was voluntary. A questionnaire of 41 questions was used for the data collection. RESULTS When the age distribution of nurses and midwives was examined, it was found that 96.8% of them were aged ≤39 years. A total of 92.0% of midwives and 84.2% of nurses practiced breast self-examination (BSE). A total of 56% of the married women practiced family planning, and the most frequent method was using contraceptive pills. A total of 88.9% of the women had never had hormonal treatment for any reason. The BSE knowledge level of 65% of the women, who performed clinical breast examination, was complete. Among the women who had full knowledge of BSE, 38.5% of them performed examination once every 6 months, 23.0% of them once a year and 38.5% of them once every 3 years. CONCLUSION This research showed that the deficiencies for nurses and midwives regarding the early diagnosis methods of breast cancer have been identified, and supporting these deficiencies with training is recommended.