Paramedical professionals play an important role in the early diagnosis of breast cancer. We, therefore, conducted a study with the aim of evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses and midwives of the CSPS of Ouagadougou on the symptoms suggestive of breast cancer. This cross-sectional descriptive study took place in the CSPSs of the city of Ouagadougou health districts from September 03, 2020, to February 03, 2021. The study included 400 nurses and midwives working at the CSPSs of the city of Ouagadougou, present during the interviewers’ visit, and who had agreed to participate freely and voluntarily were included in the survey. The subjects were asked to give their opinion, according to a Likert scale, about certain assertions related to symptoms of breast cancer. What would they do in front of “strongly suggestive”, “suggestive”, “neither suggestive nor suggestive”, “non- suggestive” and “not at all suggestive” symptoms of breast cancer? In our sample, there were 217 (54.3%) nurses and 183 (45.7%) midwives. Their level of knowledge was insufficient in 24.5% of cases, average in 46.25% of cases, good in 22.25% of cases, and excellent in 7% of cases. Concerning
their attitudes and practices in front of symptoms considered "strongly suggestive", "suggestive", "neither suggestive nor not suggestive", "not suggestive", and "not suggestive at all", the subjects surveyed claimed to refer to a higher level of care in 96.5%, 94%, 83.7%, 62.2% and 51.5% of cases respectively. These differences were significant. Twelve subjects never
referred patients, regardless of their judgment on the suggestive or non- suggestive character of the symptoms. Their average knowledge score was 4.7 points out of 10, compared to 5.7 points out of 10 for those who referred according to their judgment (p = 0.03). Measures to train and retrain nurses and midwives should make it possible to raise their level of awareness
concerning breast cancer in order to ensure promptness and adequacy in the management of suspected cases of breast cancer.

Breast Cancer, Symptoms Suggestive, Knowledge, Nurses