Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Associated Factors with Awareness on Risk Factors of Nurses Working in Basic Health Care Networks in Morocco Regarding Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer is a major challenge for public health in Morocco. It is by far the most common cancer in women and accounts for 38.1% of all new cancer cases in women, with an age-standardized incidence rate of 45.6 per 100,000 women years. The estimated number of deaths from this cancer was 2878 in 2012 and a standardized mortality rate of 18 per 100 000 women.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working in the basic healthcare networks in Morocco regarding breast cancer. It also aimed to identify the associated factors with their knowledge level of breast cancer risk factors.

Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study on nurses working in the basic health care networks (BHCN) in Morocco. Nurses present at the survey moment and having given their oral consent were included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The analysis was performed with Version 7 of Epi-info software.

Results: The mean age of participants was 45.34
10.83 years and 95.5% of them were female. Here, 91.6% had received training on the prevention of cancers, 77.2% routinely advised the practice of breast self-examination. The result showed that 87.0% had a knowledge score
8 on the Risk Factors. Only 9.0% of nurses systematically did a clinical breast exam.

Great awareness of breast cancer risk factors stood out as a contributing factor to the systematic practice of clinical breast examination of women at risk (p = < 0.013; OR=2.99; 95% CI = [1.21; 7.39]).

Conclusion: Breast cancer still remains a major public health problem in Morocco despite the means put in place to effectively combat this disease. This study found that nurses had in general a good level of knowledge about breast cancer’s risk factors (87.0%) and a good attitude. It has also highlighted that few nurses systematically performed clinical breast examinations, even for women at risk. It is essential to conduct ongoing, targeted, and regular training sessions on breast cancer, as these healthcare professionals play a significant role in reducing the incidence of this disease, and their practice largely depends on their level of knowledge. It is also important to sensitize the Moroccan community, especially women about the importance of breast self-examination in the early diagnosis of breast cancer by organizing awareness campaigns, especially in areas where the incidence is highest.