Determinants of Breast Cancer Screening among Rural Women, Homa Bay County, and Western Kenya

Abstract

Breast cancer is a serious disease and it is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Kenya and the World as a whole. It can be controlled by early detection, and prompt treatment or management. This paper aimed to demonstrate the screening levels of breast cancer among women in Homa-Bay County and determine factors associated with breast cancer screening. This was a cross-sectional study, which was done in April 2019 in two purposively selected sub-counties in Homa Bay County, Western Kenya. A region, which had previously registered lower screening levels of cancer in national surveys. Data analysis was majorly descriptive showing proportions. A Chi-square test was used to check for the association of categorical variables with breast cancer screening. Results indicated that the majority of the respondents had not gone (87.35%) for screening compared to those who had gone for screening (12.65%). Factors that were found to be significantly associated with breast cancer included if the woman was smoking (Chi-Square p-value = 0.02, history of a family member diagnosed with breast cancer (Chi-Square p-value = 0.004), and having undergone X-ray at one point in life (Chi-Square p-value = 0.021). The study concluded that breast cancer screening is still very low in Homa- Bay County and factors such as smoking and having a family member who had been diagnosed with breast cancer are associated with breast cancer screening. We recommend an increased health promotion and education activities based on breast cancer screening so that the women can go for the available cost-effective screening methods such as Clinical Breast Examination in Homa Bay County. This can be done through increased campaigns for breast cancer screening and home visits to encourage breast cancer screening or self-breast examination.