ABSTRACT

Purpose:

Breast cancer is not only the most common cancer type but also the basic factor for mortality among women caused by cancer. This study was planned to define women’s knowledge levels and practices on breast cancer and breast self-examination, as well as to assess the impact of health education activities implemented on this topic improving women’s knowledge and awareness.

Materials and Methods:

The study group consisted of 33 literate women in 15-49 age groups attending the courses in the Public Training Center of a primary school in Kütahya Province. A questionnaire developed by the researcher was answered by the participants three days before the interventional health education activities, as the pretest, and also five days after the intervention, as the posttest. The data were processed using the SPSS 14.0.

Results:

Married women were found to have significantly higher knowledge levels in breast self-examination (P<0.001). Consequently, in this study, a significant increase was estimated on women’s knowledge levels after the educational intervention in breast cancer and breast self-examination (P<0.001).

Conclusion:

After the educational activity, significant progresses were defined on women’s knowledge levels. Healthcare professionals should perform training and screening programs together with educational societies to increase women’s awareness on examination methods for early diagnosis of breast cancer.