Practice of Breast Self-Examination among Female Students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Awka

Abstract

ABSTRACT:
 Background: Breast self examination (BSE) is a fairly reliable procedure for early detection of breast cancer especially in limited resource countries where access to and availability of mammography is inadequate. BSE helps women to be familiar with their breasts and increases awareness of breast cancer and breast cancer screening modalities like Clinical breast examination (CBE) and Mammography. This study aims at testing the knowledge base of our female tertiary students on breast cancer in addition to knowledge, attitude and practice of BSE.
 Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study based on self-administered pre-tested questionnaire on the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Breast self examination (BSE) among females of a tertiary institution. Data were analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.
 Results: A 284 female student with mean age of 20.8±3.3 years participated in the study. 98.6% have heard of breast cancer, with media and books being the commonest source of information. Only 60.0% of the participants had been taught BSE, with commonest source of teaching being teachers and parents. Above half of the participants (55.6%) practiced BSE with only 8.1% ever discovered abnormality. There was significant association between practice of BSE and being taught BSE or hearing about BSE (p < 0.001).
 Conclusion: The knowledge of breast self examination among the study participants acquired largely through books and media though very high but the level of practice is still very low. There is significant association between knowledge and teaching of BSE with the practice of BSE.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Breast Self-Examination in Nigeria: A 10 Year Systematic Review

“…Three (3) (Ogun, 2019;Hanson et al, 2019) reported on knowledge, practice and perception while Sani and Yau (2018) reported knowledge and practice alone. Finally, Akpanekpo (2019), Olaogun et al (2017) and Madubogwu (2021) reported on awareness, attitude and practice.…”

“…The two (2) experimental studies among them (Ibitoye & Thupayegaletshwene Game, 2019;Ogun, 2019) recorded a very low knowledge among the participants before intervention, which increases above average after intervention. The remaining three articles by Olaogun (2017), Madubogwu (2021) and Akpanekpo (2017) did not report on knowledge but on awareness. The seven studies that reported knowledge of BSE above average were conducted among female nurses (Yakubu et al, 2014), community women (Iwuoha et al, 2021), secondary school girls (Alabi et al, 2018;Usman et al, 2020) and the remaining three among female undergraduates (Casmir et al, 2015;Lafiaji-Okuneye et al, 2022;Ossai et al, 2019).…”

“…All the seventeen (17) articles reviewed revealed the evidence of practice of BSE; five (5) of the studies apart from the two interventional studies evidenced above 50% regular practice (Casmir et al, 2015;Madubogwu et al, 2021;Olaogun et al, 2017;Sani & Yau, 2018;Usman et al, 2020) while the two intervention studies only increased to above 50% after intervention (Ibitoye & Thupayagale-tshwene Game, 2019;Ogun, 2019). The remaining ten (10) (Adamu et al, 2016;Akpanekpo, 2017;Alabi et al, 2018;Hanson et al, 2019;Iwuoha et al, 2021;Lafiaji-Okuneye et al, 2022;Oginni et al, 2014;Ossai et al, 2019;Tobin & Okeowo, 2014;Yakubu et al, 2014)…”