Cancer Screening: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among nursing staff

Objective: It is crucial to recognize cancer symptoms and utilize appropriate screening practices. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge of Iranian nursing staff regarding cancer warning symptoms, their attitudes towards cancer risk factors, and their willingness to undertake cancer screening tests.Method: This cross-sectional study involved administering validated questionnaires to 145 nursing staff. In addition to descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were utilized. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between demographic and occupational variables and participants' knowledge and attitudes regarding cancer risk factors and screening practices.Results: The mean knowledge and attitude scores were 7.97 ± 2.01 and 35.41 ± 4.69, respectively. Among the 125 female participants aged 25-57 years, only 44% performed monthly breast self-examinations, 22.1% sought specialist for breast cancer screening, only 20.51% of female participants underwent mammography. 27.2% had undergone annual Pap smear tests, and 17.6% referred to a specialist for annual pelvic examinations. Among nursing staff older than 45 years (24 participants), only one had undertaken an occult blood test and colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening.Conclusion: Although most nursing staff demonstrated awareness of cancer warning signs, they did not engage in regular preventive screening practices.

Cancer Screening: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among nursing staff Keywords:

cancer , screening , Knowledge , attitude , risk factors