Abstract
Background. Early detection of breast cancer using breast self-examination (BSE) plays an important role in decreasing its morbidity and mortality. Objective. To identify factors associated with BSE among health extension workers in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. Cross-sectional study design was employed from October to November, 2012 in West Gojjam Zone of Amhara region. Simple random sampling technique was used to recruit a total of 390 health extension workers (HEWs). A structured Amharic questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 16.0. Result. This study found that 37% of HEWs had ever practiced BSE and 14.4% practiced it regularly. The three main reasons for not doing regular BSE were no breast problem (53.2%), not knowing the technique of BSE (30.6%), and not knowing the importance of BSE (21.4%). Discussion with families on BSE and history of breast examination by health professionals were found significantly associated with ever practice of BSE. Conclusion. BSE practice was found low in this study. Having information on the importance of BSE was predictor of BSE practice. Therefore, it is important to give training on BSE techniques and its role on breast cancer prevention for HEWs.
Highlights
About 25 million people are living with cancer [1]
Recent global cancer statistics indicated that breast cancer incidence is rising at a faster rate in populations of developing countries [7, 8]
Breast problem so far, discussion with families on the importance of breast self-examination (BSE), and history of breast examination by health professional were significantly associated with practice of BSE among health extension workers (HEWs) (Table 4)
Summary
About 25 million people are living with cancer [1]. Recent estimates showed that cancer incidence will almost triple by 2030, with 20–26 million new cancer diagnoses and 13–17 million deaths [2]. Of all types of cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women both in developing and developed countries [4, 5] It is the leading cause of death among women aged between 40 and 55 years [6]. Several studies reported that breast cancer is the most common cancer, and is the principal cause of cancer deaths in women and is a world concern [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17].
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