AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE TOWARD BREAST CANCER AND BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION: A CROSS-SECTIONAL DESCRIPTIVE STUDY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE FEMALE STUDENTS AT CAIRO UNIVERSITY, EGYPT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31674/mjn.2021.v12i03.013Abstract
Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) accounts for 38.85% of total female cancer cases in Egypt and is the most prevalent cancer among Egyptian women. Early detection of breast cancer increases the effectiveness of the treatment, which results in a better prognosis, reducing the morbidity and mortality rates. Breast self-examination (BSE) is an important screening practice, a simple, economical, and noninvasive screening method for early detection of breast cancer. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive design was utilized to conduct the study. The study was conducted at Cairo University, Egypt. A convenient sample consisted of 500 female students were interviewed. The tool used for data collection was constructed by the researcher which divided into four parts: The first part was concerned with demographic general questions. The second part was related to the knowledge of breast cancer. The third part is concerned with knowledge about the risk factors of breast cancer. The fourth part dealt with knowledge about breast self- examination. Results: The study findings showed that the overall level of knowledge about breast cancer and breast self-examination were moderate (47% and 47.8% respectively). There was no association between total knowledge about breast cancer and total knowledge about breast self- examination (P=0.388). There is statistically significant association between place of residence and total knowledge about breast self-examination (P=0.001), there is statistically significant association between total knowledge of breast cancer with having family history of breast cancer (p=0.022). There is statistically significant association (P=0.03) between place of residence and total knowledge about breast cancer and showed that there is highly statistically significant association (0.0001) between marital status and total knowledge about breast cancer. Conclusion: Our study findings have shown that the level of awareness and knowledge about breast cancer and breast self-examination was generally moderate. Therefore, it is essential to increase the conduct for public interventions that increase awareness and encourage women to practice BSE on a regular basis as a national trend.
Keywords:
Breast Cancer, Breast Self-Examination, Awareness, KnowledgeDownloads
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