Awareness of Breast Cancer Screening among the Medical and General Population of the North Region of Cameroon

Abstract

Breast cancer has become a real public health problem in Cameroon, particularly in rural areas due to late diagnosis, resulting partly from the absence of national screening programs. This work is aimed at assessing breast cancer awareness in the North Region of Cameroon. Participants were selected in six health centers surrounding the rural area of Garoua, North Region, Cameroon, and administered a questionnaire aimed at assessing their awareness about breast cancer risk factors and screening. Out of the 475 women (including 37 medical personnel) interviewed, 45.5% attended at least secondary school; 91.3% were aware of the disease with the main sources of information from those around them (64.8%), media (46.5%), and health professionals in health facilities (42.7%). 23.3% had misconceptions and myth-based ideas on the origin of the disease. Ignorance was the main reason preventing the performance of breast self-examination, and the high cost prevents individuals from going for mammography. The highest awareness rate was observed in employed women with higher level of education. Our study highlights the need to raise awareness among the populations in North Region, Cameroon, about the risk factors and clinical signs of breast cancer and the importance of screening practice for early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Strengthening uptake of Breast Cancer Screening Services in Tanzania; Re-visiting the Breast Cancer Screening Messages

“…The sources of breast cancer screening messages reported in this study were similar to other studies done in Cameroon (13) and Kenya (14,15). The latter studies identi ed sources of information to be media, family/ friends, and health care providers.…”

Assessment of breast cancer awareness and detection of asymptomatic cases in Ngaoundere, Adamawa region of Cameroon

“…Indeed, studies conducted across Africa revealed that BC has often been associated with misfortune, witchcraft, or as a result of divine punishment, supernatural or spiritual problems [ 8 , 17 ]. However, lump in the breast, changes in the shape, appearance of the breast, and pain were the most common symptoms listed by the women as reported in previous studies [ 13 , 14 , 18 , 19 ]. In Africa, and particularly in the northern part of Cameroon, people mostly associate the severity of diseases, including breast cancer, with the onset of pain.…”

“…Consequently, patients usually consult a physician when ulceration appears on the breast or the lumps grow and/or become painful, thus contributing to a late diagnosis of breast cancer. Unfortunately, since these signs usually occur at late stages of the disease, they are associated with a very poor prognosis [ 14 , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] ,].…”

“…Women previously diagnosed with breast cancer and those undergoing a unilateral or bilateral mastectomy were not included. The questionnaire was initially pretested in the pilot study conducted by Tagne et al [ 14 ]. This was originally prepared in French after an exhaustive literature review, and, subsequently, was translated into the local language, “ Fufulde ” through a back-and-forth translation process.…”

“Uptake of breast cancer screening services among undergraduate female students in the oldest University of Tanzania: a cross-sectional study”

“…The most common methods for detecting breast cancer in its early stages are breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography. Mammography screening is expensive, requires a signi cant amount of nancial and human resources, and is thus not feasible in developing nations (11,12). BSE is a means for a woman to examine her breast for changes such as discharge, lumps, or thickenings, as well as the early diagnosis of breast lumps.…”