Breast screening practices of 35–65 years old women – A cross-sectional survey in Alappuzha, Kerala, India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Enhancing cancer literacy, promoting early detection, and avoiding treatment delays are essential for reducing breast cancer mortality and ensuring a good quality of life among women in less developed countries. The present paper describes the breast screening practices of women in the Alappuzha district of Kerala state, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to select study participants. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, entered using Kobo Toolbox, and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics-25 for Windows. The proportions of women who practiced breast examinations were estimated with 95% confidence intervals. The Chi-square test was used to test the associations, and binary logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios. RESULTS: Among 320 women, 55% were less than 50 years old, 45% had higher secondary education or above, and six were already diagnosed with breast cancer (1.9%, 95% CI: 0.4%–3.4%). Of the 314 women, 73.2% were practicing breast self-examination (95% CI: 68.4%–78.1%), and 25.2% ever attended clinical breast examination (95% CI: 20.4%–30.0%). Working/retired/self-employed women with higher secondary education and above had almost 10 times higher odds (OR = 10, 95% CI: 3.35–29.86) of practicing breast self-examination (BSE) compared to homemakers or women working under rural employment schemes with a low level of education. CONCLUSION: A higher percentage of women practicing BSE and clinical breast examination (CBE) in the present study indicates that women in this population are more concerned about breast cancer. Women should be educated more on the symptoms and risk factors, the proper ways of practicing BSE, and the importance of consulting a health practitioner for CBE. Also, it is crucial to ensure that awareness and screening programs reach marginalized women.