Abstract
The purpose of this study was to randomly determine the level of awareness and knowledge among female Saudi patients about the risk factors and symptoms of breast cancer as well as any awareness about the practices for breast cancer self-examination. A random cross-sectional survey was conducted over 4 months at two private medical clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 4-month period was from December 2013 to March 2014. The survey instrument was a questionnaire that was both self-explanatory and user-friendly. Our study subjects included 174 randomly selected Saudi female patients with no medical history of breast cancer. These patients visited these private clinics for medical advice or for consultation on problems unrelated to breasts. Participants' perception of risk factors regarding early menses showed only 47.1 %. The most common risk factor known by the participants was a family history of breast cancer (84 %). The most widely recognized symptoms of breast cancer were occurrence of breast lumps (86.2 %) and breast pain (93.7 %). Awareness of information regarding breast self-examination (BSE) was 81.6 % in general. Many were aware of the opinion that proper and assisted knowledge about BSE can help in early detection of breast cancer. The patients were also aware that BSE is the most widely used method of screening for breast cancer in clinics and hospitals. All the participants showed sufficient knowledge about the risk factors and symptoms of breast cancer. These baseline findings are encouraging for providing more self-explanatory information (to patients) and guidance to health authorities for developing effective breast health care programs in the entire Kingdom for the female population and not only for patients visiting health care clinics for advice on other medical issues.