Breast cancer knowledge and screening practices among women in selected rural communities of Nigeria

Abstract

Globally, the devastation that befalls women diagnosed of breast cancer remains inestimable. Early detection remains a major effective approach that should be employed to combat the disease. The issue of concern, however, is whether women in the rural underserved areas are aware of these early detection methods. This study was designed to assess rural women's awareness and knowledge of breast cancer and their screening practices. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study utilizing self developed structured questionnaire. Reliability of the instrument was determined and alpha correlation values range between 0.81 and 0.95 for the different components of the questionnaire. Data was processed using descriptive analysis and associations tested with Chi-square at 5% level of significance. The results of the findings showed that 52.7% of the women had adequate knowledge about breast cancer risk factors and symptoms. Regarding the women's awareness about breast cancer screening methods, 52.8 and 51.7% of women have heard about Breast Self-Examination (BSE) and Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) respectively. However, few numbers of respondents (3.9%) were aware about mammography and these are people who did it for the purpose of diagnosing breast problem. Majority of the women (72.8%) did not practice BSE which is the most readily available screening method. Considering the lack of sophisticated diagnostic technology such as mammography for breast screening in the rural areas, BSE provided a unique opportunity for the women to be breast aware and to identify breast problems which may constitute danger to their health in the future. Health care professionals, most especially those at the primary health care level, should enhance the women's skills to use this simple procedure effectively to promote their health.

Relationship between knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female workers in Sokoto, Nigeria

“…32 In a related study, 27.3% of women in Oyo state practiced BSE but only 11.7% practiced it regularly. 34 Moreover, the reasons for the low rate of practice of BSE among women include; fear of finding that they have breast cancer, fear of finding a lump, inadequate knowledge regarding how to perform BSE, forgetfulness, dislike to touch breast, absence of breast complaints and lack of awareness about what to do if a lump is found. 37 These barriers can be eliminated through BSE education to women.…”

Breast Cancer risk factors and screening practices Among Women Attending Family Health Centers in Cairo Governorate

“…A slightly different result was found by Olowokere, Onibokun and Oluwatosin, [27] who assess rural women's awareness and knowledge of breast cancer and their screening practices in selected rural communities of Nigeria and a significant association was revealed between the educational status of women and their practices for clinical breast examination which means that the higher the educational status of women, the more the likelihood that they are going to participate in screening test for breast cancer. Also a study done by Ozmen et al, (2009) [28] among the Turkish women to clarify the risk for breast cancer, concluded that higher education does not mean that people will follow all the health guidelines because some highly educated people still lack the awareness to make correct health decisions.…”

“…A lower result was found by Onwere et al, (2009) [45] when determine antenatal women's knowledge and practice of breast self-examination as a method of early detection of breast cancer only 1% and 2% of their respondents had clinical breast examination performed by doctors and nurses. Also the study done by Olowokere et al [27] found that, clinical breast examination was known among 51.7% of the women and 31.7% of them confirmed that they had breast examination by health professionals, however, 38.9% of the women could not correctly ascertain the ideal frequency for performing the procedure.…”

“…A different results was revealed from Dey, [29] who studied the urban-rural differences of female cancer in Gharbiah, Egypt and found that, breast incidence among 4,794 females in urban areas was higher than rural areas. According to Olowokere et al [27] who studied females in suburban and urban communities in Nigeria (52.8% & 52.8% respectively) claimed to have heard about breast self-examination. The difference between the two studies could be related to the sample selection.…”

Relationship between age and Breast Self-Examination among women in Nigeria

“…Women that practiced BSE are older than those who did not practice BSE. While, other studies indicate no significant relationship exist between the age of the respondents and the knowledge and practice of BSE 24,25,26,27 . There are no studies conducted in Sokoto to explore the relationship between the age and Breast SelfExamination among women.…”