Bridging Breast Cancer Knowledge Gaps in Guinea-Bissau: A Pilot Educational Intervention Study

Background: Guinea-Bissau faces significant breast cancer awareness challenges due to limited healthcare infrastructure and cultural barriers. This pilot study evaluated a culturally adapted educational intervention's feasibility and effectiveness on breast cancer knowledge among university students.Methods: A single-arm pre-post pilot study was conducted with 33 students (ages 18-25) at Amilcar Cabral University in March 2024. Participants completed surveys based on the Assessment of Health Literacy in Cancer Screening questionnaire, covering breast cancer knowledge domains. A 5-hour interactive educational session was delivered by a certified breast surgeon. Chi-square tests analyzed statistical significance (p<0.05).Results: The intervention demonstrated significant improvements across all knowledge domains (χ²=228.93, df=90, p<0.001). Notable improvements included recognition that breast cancer is not rare in Guinea-Bissau (36.4% to 54.5%), understanding female gender as primary risk factor (51.5% to 72.7%), and awareness that most breast lumps are benign (21.2% to 54.5%).Conclusions: This pilot demonstrates feasibility and immediate effectiveness of culturally adapted breast cancer education, successfully reducing knowledge gaps and uncertainty, providing proof-of-concept for larger-scale implementations.Keywords: breast cancer awareness, health literacy, Guinea-Bissau, educational intervention, pilot study, West Africa