Perceptions and practice of breast self-examination among adult women residing in rural South Karnataka
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20231280Keywords:
Breast Cancer, Adult women, Awareness, Breast self-examination, RuralAbstract
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is the leading cause of death among women with 40-45 years old. The only way to manage this disease is early diagnosis through screening which helps in detecting breast cancer in 90% of women that it can be treated in about 90% of women. The best accessible and affordable way to screening is breast self-examination (BSE). The main objective of the study is to assess the awareness (knowledge, attitude and practice) regarding breast self-examination among women aged 30 years and above residing in a rural area.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2016 to January 2017 in villages under Ittamadu Primary Health Centre area, Ramnagara District. A total of 600 women aged 30 years or above who gave written informed consent participated in the study. A semi structured questionnaire was administered by interview method. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis.
Results: This study revealed that the awareness regarding breast cancer among adult women aged 30 years and above was 4%. Majority of the study participants had poor knowledge regarding BSE, however they had favourable attitude towards BSE. With regard to practice of BSE, only 4% of the study participants practiced BSE.
Conclusions: Breast self-examination is one of the most appropriate, convenient and cost-effective method that can be done by every woman for early detection of breast cancer and all women after the age of 18 years should be trained to do BSE correctly and regularly by healthcare workers and doctors.
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