Knowledge And Beliefs On Female Breast Cancer Among Male Students In A Private University, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to determine the level of knowledge and beliefs about female breast cancer among male students. A cross-sectional study involving 460 male students of a private university selected by convenient sampling was conducted using self-administered questionnaires that consists of socio-demographic details as well as knowledge and beliefs about female breast cancer. The prevalence of good knowledge was only 45.2%, there was a significant association between level of knowledge and age, course of study (p=0.02 and < 0.001, respectively). The prevalence of poor belief was 72.6% and the main source of information was the media (84.1 %). There was no significant association between beliefs about female breast cancer and family income, mother’s education and race. However, there was a significant association between beliefs about female breast cancer and age, course of study and father’s education. As a conclusion, the knowledge and beliefs about female breast cancer among the male students was very poor. More education and awareness need to be emphasized; especially the media was the most common source of information in our study.