Targeting Health Disparity in Breast Cancer: Insights into Women’s Knowledge of their Cancer Profile in Malaysia

Objective: Poor health literacy is positively associated with poorer quality of health decision-making andhealth outcomes in women facing a cancer diagnosis. In developing countries, poor access to complete andaccurate information continues to pose a challenge for women. This paper describes the knowledge of Malaysianwomen with regard to breast cancer and how participation in a self-management program can improve thesituation.
Methods: Secondary analysis of data collected during a clinical trial on women newly diagnosed withbreast cancer (n=147) was performed to examine baseline knowledge of breast cancer profile. Knowledge levelsof women in the experimental (n=69) group attending a self-management program were compared to a controlgroup (n=78) to determine change in the level of knowledge over time.
Results: At baseline, a high percentageof women were unaware of their breast cancer profile. Not a single woman had knowledge of all six basiccharacteristics; 83% did not know their HER2 status, type of breast cancer (68%), grade of cancer cell (64%),hormonal receptor status (55%), size of breast cancer (18%) and/or their stage of breast cancer (13%). At postintervention, there was significantly better knowledge within the experimental group.
Conclusion: Malaysianwomen in this cohort study demonstrated very low levels of knowledge of their cancer profile. Clinical implicationsfor countering treatment-decision difficulties include the need for a shift in the way information and servicesare delivered to allow women to take a more active role in their own care. Multi-modal efforts including basicinformation dissemination to increase women’s knowledge can contribute to narrowing of the gap in healthdisparity.