Knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among undergraduate student in Bahir Dar University, North-West Ethiopia, 2016: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed each year which accounts 12% of all new cancer cases and 25% of all cancers in women. Breast self-examination offers women the best opportunity for reducing breast cancer deaths. From a total of 222 respondents about 190 (85.6%) heard about breast self-examination. One hundred forty-three (75.3%) had good knowledge about sign and symptoms of breast cancer and 47 (24.7%) had poor knowledge about the sign and symptoms of breast cancer. From total respondents of the study 120 (54.1%) practiced breast self-examination. Breast self-examination practice is relatively frequent problem in Bahir Dar University, health science students. Negligence, forgetfulness and lack of knowledge are the main factors for poor practice of breast self-examination. Public health education using the media, clubs and leaflet could significantly reduce poor practice of breast self-examination and increases early detection of breast lump.

Breast self-examination practice and its determinants among women in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In the current systematic review and meta-analysis, two administrative towns and six regions in the country were represented. Most studies were conducted in Addis Ababa (n = 11) [ 33 – 43 ] and Oromia region (n = 9) [ 31 , 44 – 51 ]; followed by South Nation Nationality of People (SNNP) (n = 8) [ 52 – 59 ], Amhara region (n = 6) [ 30 , 60 – 64 ], Tigray region (n = 3) [ 65 – 67 ] and one study from Gambella region [ 68 ], one from Dire Dawa city administration [ 69 ] and one from Harari region [ 70 ]. The studies were conducted from 2011 to 2020.…”

“…It is defined as a process whereby women examine their breasts regularly to detect any abnormal swelling or lumps in order to learn the topography of her breast [ 28 ], to know how her breasts normally feel and be able to identify changes in the breast should they occur in the future [ 29 ]. Regular breast self-examination is when breast self-examination is performed each month at the same time after some day menstrual cycle [ 30 , 31 ]. Occasional breast self-examination is when BSE is 1 to 3 times a year or every 3 months (irregularly at any time) [ 30 ].…”

“…Regular breast self-examination is when breast self-examination is performed each month at the same time after some day menstrual cycle [ 30 , 31 ]. Occasional breast self-examination is when BSE is 1 to 3 times a year or every 3 months (irregularly at any time) [ 30 ]. This study also assessed the association between selected independent variables with breast self-examination practice.…”

“…The practice of BSE varies across Ethiopia with different variations among women [ 15 – 24 ]. There are several determinant factors that have been identified for breast self-examination practice such as educational status of women, knowledge about breast self-examination and breast cancer, attitude towards BSE, family history of breast cancer, perceived susceptibility to breast cancer and other sociodemographic variables.…”

Depression and social support among breast cancer patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…However, depression is not properly screened and appropriate social support is not being given for breast cancer patients in developing countries. Although there are few studies done on breast cancer in Ethiopia, most of them deal with other aspects of the disease like overall magnitude, knowledge, attitude and practice, quality of life and survival [4, 7, 25, 26]. However, there is no data on the overall burden of depression among breast cancer survivors in Ethiopia and the association between social support and depression in this population has not been adequately explored.…”