The effects of an instructional audiotape on breast self-examination proficiency

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of a refresher instructional audiotape on breast self-examination (BSE) proficiency 6 months after BSE had been trained to criteria. Subjects (n = 54), who were undergraduate women, were trained in group sessions to perform BSE competently. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two "maintenance" groups: tape or no tape. Tape-group subjects received a BSE tape at the end of their training session. Subjects in both groups received monthly mailed prompts. At 6 months posttraining, subjects were videotaped in a clinic environment while performing BSE and 10 components of the exam subsequently were evaluated. The results indicated that tape-group subjects showed significantly better performance than controls on four components, including amount of breast area examined. The tape had no effect on BSE frequency. The tape strategy may be valuable in maintaining proficiency once BSE is trained.

Improving Breast Self-Examination Compliance: A Southwest Oncology Group Randomized Trial of Three Interventions

“…This study confirms previous findings that a BSE class increases frequency and accuracy in doing BSE and also shows that the BSE class increases accuracy over the physician message alone. BSE compliance achieved through education materials and classes has been reported at 40 to 55% in terms of frequency and 50 to 70% in accuracy [1,10,12,14,18,29,33,36,52,61]. BSE frequency in the current study was 62% at 6 and 12 months for subjects receiving the physician message and BSE class.…”

“…In examining the kinds of information that need to be included in a BSE class, researchers have addressed three methods of BSE recommended: (1) shower, (2) mirror exam, and (3) supine [68]. Researchers have found that knowledge increases proficiency or accuracy, that information provided through pamphlets and videos needs to be augmented with education programs and practice, that cognitive learning styles may need to be matched with the teaching approach, that behavior contracting increases compliance, and that knowledge alone may not be expected to result in maintenance of doing BSE as recommended [1,12,14,29,32,33,38,39,52,61,[66][67][68]72].…”

“…Pamphlets, brochures, and flyers alone do not affect BSE compliance; a combination of educational approaches using audiovisuals, support groups, behavior contracting, and demonstrations with positive feedback was positively and significantly related to BSE compliance [1,12,14,29,33,38,39,52,61]. BSE compliance rates achieved through BSE class instruction range from 40 to 55% in terms of frequency of conducting BSE and 50 to 70% in terms of degrees of accuracy [15,36,52,54].…”