Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Slovenia. Not every breast change is necessarily malignant, but it is important that we seek a professional opinion about it as soon as possible. Early detection of the disease leads to easier and faster treatment. We believe that the incidence of breast cancer could be reduced if we started with appropriate prevention and awareness at a very young age, and if we excluded as many risk factors from everyday life as possible. Purpose: The purpose of the diploma thesis was to use an online survey to determine the general awareness of young people about the prevention of breast cancer and their knowledge of the factors that influence the development of this disease. We compared the level of awareness between those with secondary and tertiary education. Methods: This diploma thesis consists of two parts – a theoretical and an empirical one. The first part is based on a descriptive method with a review of domestic and foreign literature, while the second part presents a quantitative approach or, more precisely, the method of questioning or a survey, which we conducted online with the online program 1KA. The survey questionnaire consists of 24 closed-ended questions. To compare breast cancer prevention awareness, we selected a sample of 4th-year students of the Secondary School of Nursing Ljubljana (SZŠLJ) and students of the final 3rd year of all programs at the Faculty of Health Sciences (UL ZF), with the exception of sanitary engineering, where the 4th year is the last year of undergraduate study. Results: From the respondents' answers, we generally find that the majority of young people (> 50%) know and are aware of the factors that contribute to the development of breast cancer. Discussion and conclusion: We perceive the results of the diploma thesis as an important starting point for showing the generalized knowledge of young future health professionals about breast cancer and the factors that affect it. We must be aware that these topics are a part of life and not just a part of education for our future profession. It would be interesting and useful to extend the research to more health science faculties and secondary nursing schools, as this would give a greater insight into the actual state of awareness among young people and thus improve the relevance of the results.
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