Knowledge and practice of breast-self examination among female undergraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Carcinoma of the breast is an important public health problem in Nigeria and studies have reported low levels of awareness and practice of breast self examination as an important method of prevention. Breast self examination is a cost-effective method of early detection of cancer of the breast especially in resource poor countries. We assessed knowledge and practice of breast-self examination (BSE) among female undergraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. Method: In this study, knowledge and practice of BSE were examined among 221 female students aged 16 -28 years old studying at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria using self administered questionnaires. Results: It was found that despite nearly three quarter of the respondents (87.7%) had heard of BSE, only 19.0% of them were performing this examination monthly. Regarding the sources of information about BSE among respondents, media was found to be most common followed by health workers accounting for 45.5% and 32.2% respectively. Regular performance of BSE was significantly correlated with duration of stay in the University (X 2 = 81.9, df = 3, P < .05) and family history of breast cancer (X 2 = 17.4, df = 2, P < .05). Conclusion:We observed a disparity between high levels of knowledge of BSE compared to a low level of practice. Public health education using the media could significantly reduce the knowledge-practice gap and early detection of breast lump. Key words: Breast-self examination, breast cancer, health educationRésumé Fond: Le carcinome du sein est un problème important de santé publique au Nigéria et les études ont indiqué les niveaux bas de la conscience et la pratique de l'examen de conscience de sein comme méthode importante d'empêchement. L'examen de conscience de sein est une méthode rentable de dépistage précoce du cancer du sein particulièrement dans les pays pauvres de ressource. Nous la connaissance et pratique évaluées de l'examen de sein-individu (ESB) parmi les étudiants d'étudiant préparant une licence féminins de l'université Zaria, Nigéria d'Ahmadu Bello. Méthode: Dans cette étude, la connaissance et la pratique de l'ESB ont été examinées parmi 221 étudiants féminins âgés 16 -28 ans de étudier à l'université Zaria d'Ahmadu Bello en utilisant les questionnaires administrés par individu. Résultats :On l'a constaté qu'en dépit presque de de trois quarts des répondants (87.7%) avait entendu parler de l'ESB, seulement 19.0% d'entre eux exécutaient cette revue mensuelle d'examen. Concernant les sources d' informations sur l'ESB parmi des répondants, des médias se sont avérés plus terrain Knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female undergraduate students. Gwarzo U. M. D. et al.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Breast Self-examination Among Female University Students from 24 Low, Middle Income and Emerging Economy Countries

“…In this study, country variations in the regular practice of BSE were observed, with high rates (>20%) of monthly BSE in Nigeria and Laos and low rates (<2%) in Bangladesh, India, Singapore, Russia, and South Africa. A previous study also found a high rate (19%) of monthly BSE among Nigerian female university students (Gwarzo et al, 2009), while studies in other countries also found low rates such as in Egypt (1.3%) (Boulos and Ghali, 2013) and in the UAE (3%) (Al-Sharbatti et al, 2013).…”

“…Studies among female university students in low and middle income and emerging economy countries found that in Egypt, 1.3% monthly BSE (Boulos & Ghali, 2013), in Malaysia 36.7%-55.4% had practiced BSE (Al-Naggar et al, 2011;Akhtari-Zavare et al, 2013), in Nigeria, 19.0% monthly BSE (Gwarzo et al, 2009), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 22.7% practiced BSE, 3% monthly BSE (Al-Sharbatti et al, 2013), and in Yemen, 17.4% BSE practice (Ahmed, 2010). Various factors, including lack of awareness of BSE and poor attitudes towards BSE were identified as barriers to BSE (Wardle et al, 1995;Ahmed, 2010;Shin et al, 2012;Al-Sharbatti et al, 2013).…”

Nivel de conocimiento y frecuencia de autoexamen de mama en alumnos de los primeros años de la carrera de Medicina

“…Se encontró que 89,7% de los participantes han oído sobre el AEM, lo cual es una menor proporción que la reportada por un grupo de estudiantes en India (100%) (13), pero mayor que la reportada por otros estudios en Asia (76,9%) (11) y África (87,7%) (12). La gran proporción de estudiantes que han oído acerca del AEM puede atribuirse al currículo universitario y a los temas de prevención incluidos dentro de diversas actividades académicas de los primeros años de la formación médica.…”

“…La baja frecuencia de la práctica del AEM en hombres puede deberse a lo explicado anteriormente -relativa menor exposición al tema del AEM que sus coetáneas mujeres; o quizás los hombres no consideran que el AEM es apropiado para ellos. Este último argumento es sustentado por los resultados presentados por Al-Naggar y col (12), quienes reportaron que los estudiantes universitarios varones se consideraban menos propensos al cáncer de mama y trivializaban la importancia del AEM para ellos.…”

“…Se ha mostrado que el AEM es practicado en poblaciones asiáticas (8,9) y de Estados Unidos (10). No obstante, este escenario no se presenta en otras regiones, donde el conocimiento del procedimiento es deficiente y a la baja frecuencia se agrega la falta de apoyo a las mujeres por su contraparte masculina (11)(12)(13)(14).…”