ecancermedicalscience

Research

Awareness and practice of breast self-examination among female staff at Babcock University, Nigeria

30 Oct 2023
Julius Olatade Maitanmi, Olaide Fadare, Moyosola Kolawole, Damilare Matthew Aduroja, Damilola M Faleti, Bukola Titilope Maitanmi, Oluwadamilare Akingbade

Background: Despite the ever-growing breast cancer awareness campaigns in Nigeria, the practice of breast self-examination (BSE) continues to vary widely among women. We aimed to assess breast cancer awareness and practice of BSE among female staff at Babcock University, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted for this study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to 160 respondents. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.

Results: Although the majority of the respondents were highly aware of breast cancer (78.12%) and had good knowledge about BSE (96.9%), their practice of BSE was low. Only 11.3% always examine their breasts in the mirror by raising their hands over their head, looking at their breasts and examining it in a circular motion; 56% rarely looked for puckering, colour changes and dimpling of the skin when examining their breasts in the mirror, although 53.8% sometimes squeezed their nipples and looked for discharge when they examined their breasts.

Conclusion: Knowledge and positive opinions toward preventive strategies for breast cancer should not be interpreted as readiness for practice. Educational intervention programs emphasising the importance of early detection in managing breast cancer should be reinforced to birth the desirable change.

Related Articles

Sasongko Hadi Priyono, Winardi Budiwinata, Budianto Tedjowitono, Effendy, Muhamad Daffa Ibnurasy Pratama
Ghazal Tansir, Akhil Santhosh, Akash Kumar, Hemavathi Baskarane, Mohit Kumar Divakar, Vishakha Hooda, Arundhati J R Dev, Chandra Prakash Prasad, Ishaan Gupta, Saran Kumar, Pranay Tanwar, Atul Sharma, Sameer Bakhshi, Atul Batra
María Florencia Illia, Giuliana Colucci, Angeles Ballester, Mariana Eiben, Fernando Paesani, Francisco Von Stecher, Máximo de la Vega, Florencia Perazzo, Pablo Mandó
Muhammad Arif Hameed, Yasmin Abdul Rashid, Insia Ali, Waqas Ahmed Khan, Tasneem Dawood, Misbah Soomro, Mirza Rameez Samar
Manas Dubey, Partha Sarathi Roy, Ankur Bhattacharyya, Kakoli Medhi, Rajdeep Bose, Munlima Hazarika, Pompi Daimari Buragohain, Zaveri Mohinta, Anupam Sarma