Investigation of health professionals’ knowledge about lymphedema after mastectomy

Abstract

Introduction: Early detection and treatment are the greatest success in the management of lymphedema. Health
professionals play an important role in patient education. Aim: To investigate the level of knowledge of health
professionals working in a tertiary hospital on the prevention and treatment of lymphedema. Material and
Method: Quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study and correlation study were performed using a suitable
measurement tool with a convenience sampling. The study was conducted at a general hospital of Attica, Greece,
and the data collection lasted from February 2020 to March 2020. The sample consisted of 74 health professionals (31.1% doctors, 54.1% nurses, 12.2% physiotherapists) who worked in the surgical and oncology clinics of the
hospital. The “Breast Cancer Lymphedema Information and Knowledge Study (BC LINK)” questionnaire was used
to assess knowledge which takes a maximum value of 15 and a minimum of -5. Results: The mean score of the
participants’ knowledge about lymphedema was 8.14±2.47. Participants with a master’s / doctoral degree had a significantly higher score compared to participants who were two years of training (p = 0.002) and participants
who were university graduates (p=0.015). Physicians had a significantly higher score compared to nurses (p =
0.001). Participants who had 5-10 years of overall experience with oncology patients had a significantly higher
score compared to those who had <5 years (p = 0.001). During multiple linear regression, the educational level,
specialty, and overall experience of the participants with oncology patients were found to be independently
related to the knowledge score. Conclusions: Participants had a moderate level of knowledge about lymphedema. Educational level, overall experience with oncology patients and specialty are important predictors of
knowledge score.