Knowledge, Perception, Practice and Barriers of Breast Cancer Health Promotion Activities among Community Pharmacists in Two Districts of Selangor State, Malaysia

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among women in Malaysia.Despite the campaigns undertaken to raise the awareness of the public regarding breast cancer, breast cancerscreening rates are still low in the country. The community pharmacist, as one of the most accessible healthcarepractitioners, could play a role in the provision of breast cancer health promotion services to the community.However, there are no documented data regarding the community pharmacists’ involvement in breast cancerrelated health promotion activities. Hence, this study was conducted to examine self-reported knowledge,practice and perception of community pharmacists on provision of breast cancer health promotion servicesand to investigate the barriers that limit their involvement. This cross-sectional survey conducted between Mayto September 2010, included a sample of 35 community pharmacists working in the districts of Hulu Langatand Sepang in state of Selangor. A 22-item validated questionnaire that included both closed and Lickert scalequestions was used to interview those pharmacists who gave their informed consent to participate in the study.The data was analysed using SPSS. Only 11.3% of the community pharmacists answered all the questions on theknowledge section correctly. The mean overall knowledge of the community pharmacists on risk factors of breastcancer and screening recommendations is 56%. None of the respondents was currently involved in breast cancerhealth promotion activities. Lack of time (80%), lack of breast cancer educational materials (77.1%) and lackof training (62.9%) were the top three mentioned barriers. Despite these barriers, 94.3% (33) of the communitypharmacists agreed that they should be involved in breast cancer health promotion activities. Hence, there isneed to equip community pharmacists with necessary training and knowledge to enable them to contribute theirshare towards prevention and screening of breast cancer.