Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Feb 24, 2019; 10(2): 98-109
Published online Feb 24, 2019. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v10.i2.98
Hong Kong female’s breast cancer awareness measure: Cross-sectional survey
May Pui Shan Yeung, Emily Ying Yang Chan, Samuel Yeung Shan Wong, Benjamin Hon Kei Yip, Polly Suk-Yee Cheung
May Pui Shan Yeung, Emily Ying Yang Chan, Division of Global Health and Humanitarian Medicine, the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China
Samuel Yeung Shan Wong, Benjamin Hon Kei Yip, Division of Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare, the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China
Polly Suk-Yee Cheung, Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation, Hong Kong, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed to study conception and design; Yeung MPS, Chan EYY and Wong SYS performed the research and wrote the paper; Yip BHK analysed and interpreted the data; all authors contributed to editing, reviewing and final approval of the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Survey and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (SBREC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study (survey) enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the Strobe Statement – checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Emily Ying Yang Chan, Professor, MBBS, MD, Division of Global Health and Humanitarian Medicine, the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Ngan Shing Street, Hong Kong, China. emily.chan@cuhk.edu.hk
Telephone: +852-22528411 Fax: +852-21457489
Received: September 4, 2018
Peer-review started: September 4, 2018
First decision: October 15, 2018
Revised: November 5, 2018
Accepted: January 9, 2019
Article in press: January 9, 2019
Published online: February 24, 2019
Abstract
BACKGROUND

In women worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer. Breast cancer accounted for 26.6% of all new cancers in females diagnosed in 2015 in Hong Kong.

AIM

To examine women’s awareness, perception, knowledge, and screening practice of breast cancer in Hong Kong.

METHODS

We carried out a population-based survey using random telephone interviews to women aged 18 or above using the United Kingdom Cancer Research Breast Cancer Awareness Measure (United Kingdom CAM). The data was analysed using proportions, chi-square test (χ2-test) and adjusted odds ratios (ORs).

RESULTS

A total of 1000 participants completed the CAM questionnaire from 1,731 responses (response rate = 57.8%) from September to October 2017. One in five and one in four respondents recalled ≥ 3 early warning signs and ≥ 2 risk factors of breast cancer respectively. The majority (62.6%) reported they were not confident that they would notice a change in their breasts. Among the respondents, 16.8% would have regular mammography at least every two years. In general, 4 in 10 women had tried practices on preventing breast cancer. Respondents with better result in recalling breast cancer signs and symptoms were more likely to seek immediate medical help when noticed a change in their breasts (χ2-test P = 0.038), and more likely had tried prevention practice (χ2-test P < 0.001). Respondents received higher education (secondary school or above) had higher breast cancer awareness (OR = 2.83, CI: 1.61-4.97), more frequent screening (OR = 2.64, CI: 1.63-4.26) and more had tried prevention practices (OR = 2.80, CI: 1.96-4.02) when compared to those with lower education. Those in age groups 31-45 and 46-60 had higher percentages in performing breast self-exam and mammography when compared to the 18-30 and 61 or above age groups.

CONCLUSION

Population-wide public health initiatives should emphasize on prevention and early detection of breast cancer in women, with targeted strategy for those with low education level and advance in age.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Cancer Awareness Measure, Awareness, Screening practice, Behaviour, Attitude

Core tip: Breast cancer is the top cancer in women worldwide. In this study, we used the United Kingdom Cancer Research Breast Cancer Awareness Measure to assess the awareness, perception, knowledge, and screening practice of this cancer among the female population in Hong Kong, China. In general, women with higher education and in age groups 31-45 and 46-60 had better breast cancer awareness and more frequent screening tests. Respondents recalled more breast cancer signs and symptoms were more likely to seek immediate medical help when noticed a change in their breasts, and more likely had tried prevention practice.