Assessment of knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among young women in tertiary education: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the top cancer in women both in the developed and the developing world. The Addis Ababa Cancer registry reported that breast cancer accounts for 34% of all female cancer cases. Many deaths can be avoided if the cancer can be detected and treated early. Practice of breast self-examination is a convenient, no-cost tool that can be used on a regular basis for detecting breast illness at an early stage. Therefore, this study sought to assess the knowledge and practice of BSE among young females at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted on the total sample size of 381 females using self-administered questionnaire adapted from other studies. The data were entered using Epi-data software version 4.1.1 and then exported to SPSS version 24 for further statistical analysis. The study analysis was done by descriptive and inferential statistics: namely frequency, mean, student t-test, ANOVA, linear & logistic regression. Results: Majority of the participants were single (85.2%), orthodox Christian (67%), and grew up in urban (77.7%) with mean age of 20.84 years. The majority (94.1%) of the participants had no any family history of breast cancer. Almost half (52.5%) of the respondents had heard about breast cancer self-examination, while the media were the main source of information. The study revealed that only as little as 47 (13.1%) respondents did appropriate BSE, while two third of the females not practicing BSE reported that the reasons were, they didn’t know how to do it, forgetfulness, and didn’t have any breast problem. In addition, the females’ previous information about BSE makes the greatest unique contribution to explaining the BSE knowledge level. Moreover, the study indicates that the more age and knowledge the females have, the more likely it is that they will report practicing BSE. Conclusion: Further implementations are needed in addressing young females, making awareness and advocacy campaigns about BSE in order to increase early diagnosis of breast cancer which raises the chances for successful treatment in Ethiopia. Key words: Breast cancer, Breast cancer self-examination, Knowledge, Practice, Ethiopia.

Knowledge and Practice of Breast Self-Examination among Undergraduate Midwifery Students of the University for Development Studies, Ghana

“…Study participants who practised BSE were high among our study participants. Mihret et al [18], Dinegde et al [22] and Mekonnen et al [23] reported low practices of BSE among students with health training backgrounds (nursing and midwifery) and humanities. Students from all backgrounds of training should be encouraged to practice BSE as a simple and cost-effective method for the early detection of BC among women of their reproductive age [4,24].…”

“…The study revealed a statistically significant relationship between age and marital status with practices of BSE (p = 0.022 and 0.001, respectively). Dinegde et al [22], Fondjo et al [1], and Ayed et al [10] reported significant associations between age and practices of BSE at p< 0.01, p<0.0001 and p < 0.001 respectively.…”