Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 6;7(6):493-499.
doi: 10.33546/bnj.1802. eCollection 2021.

Malaysian nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding BRCA genetic testing

Kien Ting Liu  1   2 , Wan Rosilawati Wan Rosli  3 , Azlina Yusuf  2 , Soon Lean Keng  2
Affiliations

Malaysian nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding BRCA genetic testing

Kien Ting Liu et al. Belitung Nurs J. .

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer genetic (BRCA) testing for cancer susceptibility is an emerging technology in medicine.

Objective: This study assessed the knowledge and attitude of nurses regarding BRCA genetic testing in a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 nurses using a simple random sampling technique in a tertiary teaching hospital in northeast peninsular Malaysia. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic data, assessing nurses' knowledge and attitude regarding BRCA genetic testing. Fisher exact test analysis was used to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristics with knowledge and attitude level. In addition, the overall knowledge and attitude were analysed using the sum score of each outcome based on Bloom's cut-off point.

Results: Of the 150 nurses, 66.7% had high knowledge level about BRCA genetic testing, and 58% were positive towards genetic testing. The participants' mean age was 28.9 years (SD = 6.70). Years of working experience (p = 0.014) significantly influenced knowledge level on BRCA genetic testing, whereas speciality working experience (p <0.001) significantly influenced BRCA genetic testing attitudes.

Conclusions: The results show that most nurses have adequate knowledge of BRCA genetic testing. However, their attitude could be termed negative. Therefore, targeted education programs on BRCA genetic testing and risk are needed to improve the knowledge and attitude of nurses and, ultimately, can educate the women and increase health-seeking behaviour among eligible women.

Keywords: Malaysia; attitudes; breast cancer; genetic testing; knowledge; nurses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

References

    1. Bellcross, C. A., Kolor, K., Goddard, K. A. B., Coates, R. J., Reyes, M., & Khoury, M. J. (2011). Awareness and utilization of BRCA1/2 testing among US primary care physicians. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40(1), 61-66. 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.09.027 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blazer, K. R., MacDonald, D. J., Culver, J. O., Huizenga, C. R., Morgan, R. J., Uman, G. C., & Weitzel, J. N. (2011). Personalized cancer genetics training for personalized medicine: improving community-based healthcare through a genetically literate workforce. Genetics in Medicine, 13(9), 832-840. 10.1097/GIM.0b013e31821882b7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals; Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay.
    1. Calzone, K. A., Jenkins, J., Culp, S., Bonham Jr, V. L., & Badzek, L. (2013). National nursing workforce survey of nursing attitudes, knowledge and practice in genomics. Personalized Medicine, 10(7), 719-728. 10.2217/pme.13.64 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calzone, K. A., Jenkins, J., Yates, J., Cusack, G., Wallen, G. R., Liewehr, D. J., . . . McBride, C. (2012). Survey of nursing integration of genomics into nursing practice. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 44(4), 428-436. 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2012.01475.x - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources