University Students’ Awareness of Breast and Cervical Cancers: A Comparison of Two Countries and Two Different Cultures

Özet

Objective: ftis study aims to evaluate Turkish and Polish female university students’ awareness of breast and cervical cancers. fte study was con- ducted in Turkey and Poland with 350 female students.Materials and Methods: ftis descriptive and cross-sectional study’s data were collected using Self-Administered Form questioning students' sociodemographic characteristics and awareness of breast and cervical cancer. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16.0 for Windows with number, percentage, and chi square test.Results: According to the findings, a significant difference was found between Turkish and Polish students on knowing and applying Breast Self- Exam (BSE) (p<0.05). No difference was found between the two student groups on considering mammography as required. 81.1% of Turkish and 68.1% of Polish students considered Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) as required; the difference was significant. A significantly higher number of Turkish students knew high-fat diet, overweight, first childbirth at advanced ages, and not having given birth as risk factors, while a higher number of Polish students knew using oral contraceptive as risk factor for breast cancer. A significantly higher number of Turkish students knew cancer history in family, Human Papilloma Virus, smoking, immunodeficiency, overweight, three or more full-term pregnancies, the first pregnancy at advanced ages, and poverty as risk factors for cervical cancer. A greater number of Polish students only knew using oral contraceptive as a risk factor; the dif- ference was not statistically significant.Conclusion: Results of this study showed that breast and cervix cancer awareness is similar among university students in both countries.