Á½ÐÔÉ«ÎçÒ¹

Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
Amal Alawami

For the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
Health Education and Promotion

Behavioral Intention Towards Practicing Breast Self-Examination Among Saudi Female College Students

December 3, 2025
12:00 p.m.
Nixson Hall Conference Room

Behavioral Intention Towards Practicing Breast Self-Examination Among Saudi Female College Students

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the intention of Saudi female undergraduate students at King Faisal University (KFU) to perform breast self-examination (BSE) routinely once a month as a method of early breast cancer (BC) detection. A modified version of the Theory of Planned Behavior was used as the conceptual framework to examine the impact of knowledge, fatalism, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control on students' intention to practice BSE regularly, as well as the relationships among these factors.

An online cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data from Saudi female full-time undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 enrolled in non-health-related colleges at KFU. A total of 261 students completed the survey. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

The findings of this study revealed students had a positive attitude, perceived behavioral control, and intention toward performing BSE routinely once a month, while maintaining a neutral subjective norm. Students also demonstrated moderate BSE knowledge and low BC fatalism. The analysis revealed attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and fatalism were significant predictors of intention with perceived behavioral control the strongest predictor. The findings highlighted the need to develop targeted breast health education programs in Saudi college settings to strengthen young women's confidence and BSE technical skills for doing BSE, to correct misconceptions, and to promote consistent BSE practice as part of early BC detection efforts.