Abstract
Despite health education efforts to educate women on breast cancer and breast cancer screening modalities, the incidence of breast cancer and presentation at an advanced stage are still a problem in Malaysia. To determine factors associated with the uptake of breast cancer screening among women in the general population. This pre-intervention survey was conducted in a suburban district. All households were approached and women aged 20 to 60 years old were interviewed with pre-tested guided questionnaires. Variables collected included socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge on breast cancer and screening practice of breast cancer. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. 41.5% of a total of 381 respondents scored above average; the mean knowledge score on causes and risks factors of breast cancer was 3.41 out of 5 (SD1.609). 58.5% had ever practiced BSE with 32.5% performing it at regular monthly intervals. Uptake of CBE by nurses and by doctors was 40.7% and 37.3%, respectively. Mammogram uptake was 14.6%. Significant predictors of BSE were good knowledge of breast cancer (OR=2.654, 95% CI: 1.033-6.816), being married (OR=2.213, 95% CI: 1.201-4.076) and attending CBE (OR=1.729, 95% CI: 1.122-2.665). Significant predictors for CBE included being married (OR=2.161, 95% CI: 1.174-3.979), good knowledge of breast cancer (OR=2.286, 95% CI: 1.012-5.161), and social support for breast cancer screening (OR=2.312, 95% CI: 1.245-4.293). Women who had CBE were more likely to undergo mammographic screening of the breast (OR=5.744, 95% CI: 2.112-15.623), p<0.005. CBE attendance is a strong factor in promoting BSE and mammography, educating women on the importance of breast cancer screening and on how to conduct BSE. The currently opportunistic conduct of CBE should be extended to active calling of women for CBE.
Highlights
Despite health education efforts to educate women on breast cancer and breast cancer screening modalities, the incidence of breast cancer and presentation at an advanced stage are still a problem in Malaysia
Before the intervention on providing breast health education/promotion activities, including the training on breast self examination and community screening of breast abnormality by clinical breast examination are implemented; Mobile Unit for Health Education on Breast Cancer (MURNI), which is the collaborative project between the University of Malaya and the Breast Cancer Welfare Association of Malaysia (BCWA)
It was observed that majority of the respondents had average knowledge of breast cancer
Summary
Despite health education efforts to educate women on breast cancer and breast cancer screening modalities, the incidence of breast cancer and presentation at an advanced stage are still a problem in Malaysia. Significant predictors of BSE were good knowledge of breast cancer (OR=2.654, 95% CI: 1.0336.816), being married (OR=2.213, 95% CI: 1.201-4.076) and attending CBE (OR=1.729, 95% CI: 1.122-2.665). Significant predictors for CBE included being married (OR=2.161, 95% CI: 1.174-3.979), good knowledge of breast cancer (OR=2.286, 95% CI: 1.012-5.161), and social support for breast cancer screening (OR=2.312, 95% CI: 1.245-4.293). Conclusion: CBE attendance is a strong factor in promoting BSE and mammography, educating women on the importance of breast cancer screening and on how to conduct BSE. Just over 50% of Malaysian breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women aged under 50 years old (Yip et al, 2006) with those of Chinese ethnicity having the highest ASR (38.1 per 100 000 population) followed by those of Indian ethnicity (33.7 per 100 000) and those of Malay ethnicity (25.4 per 100 000 population) (National Cancer Registry Report, 2011). A rise in the 5 year survival rate of breast cancer from 58.4% to 75.7% was observed in a two time period analysis in one centre in Kuala Lumpur (Taib et al, 2011)
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