Rizwana Anjum, Sobia Nawaz, Somayyah Bibi.
Breast Self Examination Practice and Awareness about Breast Cancer.
J Rawal Med Coll Jan ;21(3):269-71.

Background: To assess females? awareness about breast cancer and self-reported practice of breast self-examination. Methods: In this population-based cross sectional study data was collected via a structured questionnaire containing questions on demographic status, family history of breast cancer, subjective knowledge about breast cancer covering its symptoms, the screening methods and practice of breast self-examination (BSE). Results: A total of 1500 women were interviewed. The mean age of respondents was 36 + 16.1 years. Majority (76.1%) were married. In 90.9% there was no family history of carcinoma breast. Familiarity about breast cancer was found in 15.1%. Only a few (3.2%) knew about breast cancer screening programs and most indicated that electronic media (television 8.3% and radio 4.9%) were their source of information. Only 1.9% of women said that they were conducting occasional breast self-examination. The main reason for women not doing breast selfexamination was due to the fact that they did not know how to do it (97.5%). Conclusion: Women?s knowledge about breast cancer warning signs and effective screening methods i.e. breast self examination, and mammography were insufficient.

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