Knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female undergraduate students.

Abstract

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 (X2 = 81.9, df = 3, P < .05) and family history of breast cancer (X2 = 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 lum.