Assessment of Knowledge and Practice of Breast Self-Examination (BSE) among Students in FSK UniSZA

Abstract

Introduction: Malaysia is one of the countries that have the highest mortality rate of breast cancer among other countries in Asia. Therefore, breast self-examination (BSE) is encouraged in every country including Malaysia to increase the detection of any breast abnormalities at an early stage and decrease the incidence of cancer presented at a late stage. This study aims to assess the level of Health Sciences students’ knowledge and practice of BSE as well as to investigate the association between knowledge and practice of BSE.
 Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among female students from the Faculty of Health Sciences, UniSZA. An adapted questionnaire was distributed online using Google Forms to assess the knowledge and practice of BSE. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse sociodemographics, knowledge and practice on BSE while the Chi-Square test was used to determine the association between knowledge and practice of BSE among the respondents.
 Results: A total of 288 female students participated in this study. The mean age was 21.4 ± 1.8 years old and most of them are single (99%). Most of the respondents (61%) have moderate knowledge of BSE, while 35% and 4% of respondents have good knowledge and poor knowledge, respectively. Among 288 participants, 93.4% have heard about BSE, but only 61% of people who have heard of BSE have performed it before. Besides, there was a significant association between knowledge and practice of BSE (χ² = 38.835, p =<0.001).
 Conclusions: Practice of BSE significantly related to its knowledge. Continuous awareness campaigns must be held through various platforms to educate the public and encourage them to practice BSE as their monthly routine for the early detection of breast cancer.