IJCM_68A: Awareness and Practices towards Breast Self-Examination (BSE) for early detection of breast cancer among college-going students in Coastal Karnataka

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is one of the leading cancers among women especially in developing countries and is amenable to complete cure if detected early. BSE is one of the screening techniques for early detection of breast lumps and early detection of breast cancer. This study was done to study the awareness, attitudes, and practices towards BSE among the study participants. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 656 female students in pre-university and non-health degree colleges of Mangalore, belonging to the Science and Commerce streams selected using cluster random sampling. Data collection was done using a semi-structured questionnaire and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results were expressed using tables and figures. The chi-square test was used for comparison across the groups, and p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among the 656 subjects,90%(n=570) belonged to age group of 18-20 years and 44.8%(n=287) were from science stream. Overall,41%(n=268) students were aware about the practice of BSE and a statistically significant association was seen with their stream. Also, 12%(n=78) performed BSE and out of them 69% (n=54) performed it at an ideal frequency. Among the students with a positive family history of breast cancer (4.5%), 92.3% felt the need for BSE education as compared to others. Conclusion: High number of young females (59.14%) did not have knowledge and those who performed BSE, followed incorrect techniques (94.7%). Most of them had a favourable attitude towards learning more about BSE.