title: Poor Knowledge and Practice Towards Breast Cancer among Women in Baghdad City, Iraq.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among females worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice about breast cancer and its related factors among women in Baghdad city, Iraq.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted among 508 women aged 18 to 55 years from four non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Baghdad city, Iraq. A self-administered questionnaire on breast cancer knowledge and practice was distributed to participants during weekly activity of the NGO.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 61.2% of the respondents had poor knowledge, only 30.3% performed breast self-examination (BSE) and 41.8% said that they did not know the technique to perform BSE. Associations between knowledge and marital status and age were significant. For practice, working status, education, age and family income were significant. After controlling for cofounders, the most important contributing factors for poor knowledge among respondents were marital status and not performing BSE, with adjusted odds ratio of 1.6 and 1.8 respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breast cancer knowledge and practice of BSE are poor among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. More promotion regarding breast cancer signs and symptoms and also how to perform BSE should be conducted using media such as television and internet as these constituted the main sources of information for most women in our study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, UKM Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia E-mail : dr.hasanainhabasha@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tiba Nezar
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: Shamsul Azhar
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Mohd Rohaizat
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Nazarudin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Safian
authors.forename: Zahir Izuan
authors.initials: ZI
authors.lastname: Azhar
authors.forename: Syed Sharizman
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Syed Abdul Rahim
authors.forename: Hasanain Faisal
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Ghazi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult