Attitude and Practices Towards Breast Cancer Among Undergraduate Female Pharmacy Students in Pakistan

Lack of knowledge, attitude and perception towards breast cancer still a major public health issue disease in many developed and under-developed countries including Pakistan. In 2024 in Pakistan, one in every 8 females is affected by Breast Cancer.

To determine the awareness, attitude, and practices of Pharmacy (Pharm-D) students towards Breast Cancer (BC) and their correlation with participants' age and level of study.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 401 female students of Pharmacy from December 2023 to March 2024, using a self-administered questionnaire assessing awareness, attitude, and practices towards BC. For sample size calculation, Raosoft^® online sample size calculator with a 5.0% margin of error and a 95.0% confidence interval was used. The respondents were sampled via convenience sampling.

Our sample included 401 participants. The majority gained knowledge about BC from the media (69.8%). About 73.4% of participants did not participate in breast self-examination (BSE), and about 41.3% of them believed they were not at risk. About 92.6% of participants didn't undergo clinical breast examination (CBE). Nearly half of the participants (44.9%) agreed that BC is more common in older women. About four-fifths of the respondents (79.3%) agreed that regular examination can reduce the risk of BC.

The practice of BSE by the Pharm.D students is lagging. There were notable gaps in CBE by pharmacy students due to the belief that breast cancer predominantly affects older women. Therefore, it is important to make future pharmacists aware of practicing BSE and CBE regularly.