KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF SELF BREAST EXAMINATION AMONG WOMEN ATTENDING KCMC CONSULTANT HOSPITAL
Abstract
Description
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and is the leading cause of death
in developed and developing countries (WHO 2013).
Worldwide over 1.15million of cases of breast cancer are diagnosed every year 502,000 women
die from the disease each year. Studies have reported that low level of knowledge and practice
of breast self-examination as important primary method of prevention. As breast selfexamination
is painless procedure and cost effective method for early detection of breast cancer
especially in low per income countries.
METHODOLOGY: This study was hospital based cross sectional study which lasted from
April to July 2016, conducted in KCMC consultant hospital 203 women were randomly selected
and questionnaire was used to collect data. To ensure confidentially no name was writing,
instead serial No. was used to identify the respondents.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge of practice on self breast
examination towards breast cancer among women attending at the KCMC consultant hospital.
RESULTS: Majority of respondents in this study had low level of knowledge on practice on
BSE (27.6%), only few (22.2%) of respondents knew what to look for while performing BSE.
Majority (92.1%) of respondents perceived BSE as the important technique in early detection of
breast cancer. The main sources of information were from television, radio or newspaper
(40.9%), only few (14.3%) from pamphlet. Half (50.3%) of respondents can detect breast cancer
by themselves, (57.2%) were afraid to detect breast cancer Majority (95.1%) of the respondents
approved that BSE was important in early detection. Furthermore, only (9.4%) had ever been
performed BSE within 12 months,(41.8%) of respondents claimed to perform BSE whenever
felt abnormal changes around their breast. Only (35.5%) had ever been to health facility to have
their BSE. Very few (17.7%) of respondents said that had encouraged by their friends family
members.
CONCLUSION: From this study findings indicate that generally most of women who attended
in KCMC consultant hospital did know on how to perform BSE as the important and simple
method of early detection of breast cancer. Also majority had never been to any health facility
to have their BSE, among them afraid to perform BSE feared to detect breast cancer.
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::MEDICINE