Role Playing for Improving Women’s Knowledge of Breast Cancer Screening and Performance of Breast Self-Examination

Abstract

<br /> <strong><span style="font-size: small;">Background: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">To enhance knowledge and performance of screening as a strategy to control breast cancer, use of effective teaching methods is necessary. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of role-playing on knowledge of breast cancer screening and performance of breast self-examination (BSE). </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Methods: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">A quasi experimental design was used. Women enrolled in community cultural centers (n=314) were randomly divided into two educational </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">groups: role playing (intervention) and lecture (control). Data were collected using a structured questionnaire before </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">and after intervention. Reliability of the questionnaire was determined as 0.80 by Cronbach's alpha. The women were followed up regarding performance of BSE one month later. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Results: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Of the 314 women, 113 (36%) and 132 (42%) had low and medium levels of knowledge, respectively. More than a third (38.2%) reported that TV and radio were </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">the most important information sources for breast cancer and screening. There were significant differences between </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">mean scores of knowledge before and after the intervention in both groups, but change was greater with role playing (31.3±1.9 as compared to 23.5±1.3) (P=0.001). After a month of educational intervention, 75.7% and 69.8% of those in role playing and control groups had undergone BSE. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Conclusion: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">It appears that application of a role playing method by providers improves women's knowledge and behavior with respect to breast cancer screening. </span></span>