Breast Cancer Knowledge, Beliefs and Practices among female Nurses and Midwives in Ghana

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, with over one million new cases diagnosed annually. Women in low and middle income countries will be burdened with 45% of global breast cancer cases resulting in 55% of breast cancer-related deaths. Few studies have examined health care professionals' knowledge, beliefs and personal practices. This study assessed breast cancer knowledge, beliefs and practices of female Nurses and Midwives in Ghana. Objective: The overall objective of cross sectional descriptive study was to identify and describe the current level of breast cancer knowledge, beliefs and practices among female Nurses and Midwives in Ghana. Method: A quantitative method of data collection was employed using a structured 60 item questionnaire divided into 5 sections: general breast cancer knowledge; breast cancer related education and training; personal beliefs about breast cancer, personal breast cancer screening practices and demographic information. Self administered surveys were conducted on a sample of 251 female nurses and midwives from 8 health care facilities. Results: The results from the study was that breast cancer knowledge was a predictor of good personal practice but other sociodemographic characteristics such as age, profession, marital status, years of professional practice and years of education contributed little to overall breast cancer knowledge. Recommendations: There is the need to incorporate non communicable disease curriculum into the professional training of nurses and midwives in addition to developing culturally responsive continuing medical education programs to fill current gaps in knowledge.