Knowledge, attitude and practice on early screening for breast cancer of female first-degree relatives of breast cancer Patients

Objective To investigate the status of early screening for breast cancer among female first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients. Methods By convenience sampling, the female first-degree relatives of the patients with breast cancer admitted in Department of Breast and Thyroid Disease from 2 hospitals in Suzhou from January to August of 2018 were selected and investigated using questionnaires (n=180) . By cross-sectional study method, their knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about the early screening of breast cancer were assessed. Univariate analysis, correlation analysis and Logistic multivariate regression analysis were conducted to analyze the influencing factors on the participating behaviors of the first-degree relatives of breast cancer pativents in the early screening for breast cancer. Results 6.7% participants reported doing breast self-examination once a month and 22.8% reported getting image examination of breasts once a year. The results of multivariate logistic regression indicated that age, educational background, employment status and attitude towards early screening were the influencing factors of the early screening practice for breast cancer. Conclusions The screening rate among female first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients is very low. In future studies, effective intervention should be carried out for the female first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients, focusing on the elderly and poorly educated population, in order to promote their breast cancer early screening practice. Key words: Breast neoplasm; First-degree relatives; Early screening; Knowledge, attitude and practice