Knowledge Assessment on Breast Cancer and Breast Self-Examination Practice among Female University Students in Kedah, Malaysia

Abstract

Objective: To review the knowledge on breast cancer (BC), breast self-examination (BSE) and clinical breast examination (CBE) practices among female university students in a private University, Malaysia. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in a private university teaching medical and healthcare courses in Malaysia. Simple random sampling method was used. A structured questionnaire consisting of 4 sections was used for data collection. Data obtained were coded and SPSS Statistics (version 25) was used for analysis. Categorical data were presented as frequency and percentage whereas chi-square test was used to find the association between two different categorical variables. Results: A total of n=309 responses were collected from female students in a private university in Malaysia. The mean age of the respondents was 20.58 years (SD = 1.479, range = 19 - 30). One tenth of the respondents had family history of breast cancer [32 (10.4%)]. 304 students (98.4%) have heard of breast cancer. The study revealed media as the major source of information on breast cancer. 276 respondents (89.3%) have heard of BSE. 72.5% of respondents did not practice BSE. 291 (94.2%) respondents think that BSE is a useful tool to detect breast cancer. 85.8% of the respondents knew that BSE is performed by the individual. More than half of the students [193 (62.5%)] have not been taught on how to do BSE. Only [116 (37.5%)] of the respondents correctly stated that BSE should be performed monthly. 194 respondents (62.8%) have heard of CBE. Majority wrongly identified that CBE is done by using mammography [209 (67.6%)] and ultrasound [125 (40.5%)]. Only 13.6% of respondents identified that CBE is done by hand. There was significant association between education field and awareness of CBE. Conclusion: Most of the respondents are mindful of the existence of breast cancer and BSE but majority did not practice BSE as a routine. besides, they have lack of awareness and practice of CBE.