PURPOSE Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. Educational and awareness programs impact early practices of breast self-examination, resulting in the early detection of cancer and thereby decreasing mortality. The study aimed to assess the levels of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer and breast self-examination among medical and nursing students in Oman and to compare their knowledge, attitudes, and skills after a training program. METHODS This quasi-experimental study was carried out for female 90 medical and 80 nursing students in Oman in November 2019. A pre-test questionnaire was given before the training program and a post-test questionnaire was administered after the training program. Students’ knowledge, attitude, and skills regarding breast cancer and breast self-examination were compared. Scores for skills of practicing breast self-examination were compared between lecture and activity group and lecture-only group. RESULTS Pre-test and post-test data were collected from 170 female students. Significant improvements were observed in the post-test scores for students’ knowledge, attitude, and skills after the intervention (P<0.001). The mean scores for skills of practicing breast self-examination after the lecture and the activity were higher than those obtained after the lecture only (P=0.014 for medical students and P=0.016 for nursing students). CONCLUSION An educational training program on breast cancer and breast self-examination with an emphasis on skills can motivate participants to perform breast self-examination regularly, and may therefore help students to train other women to perform breast self-examination for the early detection of breast cancer.

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阿曼女性医学和护理专业学生关于乳房自检的知识、态度和技能：培训前后的比较

目的 乳腺癌是全世界女性最常见的癌症之一。教育和意识计划影响乳房自我检查的早期实践，导致癌症的早期发现，从而降低死亡率。该研究旨在评估阿曼医学和护理专业学生对乳腺癌和乳房自我检查的知识和意识水平，并比较他们在接受培训计划后的知识、态度和技能。方法 本次准实验研究于 2019 年 11 月对阿曼的 90 名医学和 80 名护士女学生进行。在培训计划之前进行了前测问卷，在培训计划之后进行了后测问卷。比较学生对乳腺癌和乳房自我检查的知识、态度和技能。比较讲课活动组和纯讲课组的乳房自检技巧得分。结果 从 170 名女学生中收集了测试前和测试后的数据。干预后学生的知识、态度和技能的后测分数显着提高（P<0.001）。课后和活动后练习乳房自检技能的平均得分高于仅在课后获得的得分（医学生P=0.014，护生P=0.016）。结论 以技能为重点的关于乳腺癌和乳房自检的教育培训计划可以激励参与者定期进行乳房自检，