Breast Cancer Screening: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Female University Students in The Gambia

Abstract

Background. Breast cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer in The Gambia, with an incidence rate of approximately 15% and a mortality rate exceeding 50% in 2020. The all-age prevalence stands at 11.25 per 100,000 population. In light of this, we conducted a study to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of breast cancer screening among female university students. Method. We conducted an institutional cross-sectional study involving 361 randomly sampled female university students. Data collection was done using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire. We utilized descriptive statistics to describe the prevalence and burden of breast cancer screening among the participants. Results. Our study revealed good knowledge regarding breast cancer screening among female university students, yet 82.8% had a negative attitude about the disease. More than three-quarters (76.6%) of the respondents had never practiced any form of breast cancer screening. Notably, there was a significant association between knowledge of breast cancer screening and attitude ( $p=0.027$ ), and factors such as level of study ( $p=0.041$ ), ethnicity ( $p=0.026$ ), parity ( $p=0.018$ ), and faculty of study ( $p=<0.001$ ) influenced the participants’ knowledge. Conclusion. It is crucial to implement comprehensive awareness campaigns to address the negative attitude and poor screening practices among female university students regarding breast cancer. Additionally, providing free and widespread breast cancer screening services to students should be considered as a means to combat this disease.