Knowledge attitude and practice of breast-self examination for early detectoin of breast cancer among women in roan constituency in luanshya, Copperbelt province, Zambia

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is among the commonest causes of deaths among women in the world. It is becoming a major concern for many developing countries. Early detection of breast cancer remains a vital aspect to reducing mortality rates. Mammography is the only method that has been proven to be effective for early detection, but the method is very costly, and is only cost-effective and feasible in countries with good health infrastructure. Breast self-Examination (BSE) is the recommended method in developing countries because it is easy, convenient, safe and requires no specific equipment. This study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of breast self-examination (BSE), among women in Roan Township in Luanshya, Zambia. Methodology: The study was a cross sectional study done in Roan township in Luanshya, Zambia. It enrolled 351 women randomly from different households between the ages 18 and 65. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 20.Results: The proportion of women who had poor knowledge on Breast self-examination (BSE) was 169(48.1%) and those who had positive knowledge were182(51%) of which 138(39.3%) had average knowledge and only 44(12.5%) had good knowledge. Television was cited as the main source of information on BSE by 34% of the respondents. The attitude toward BSE was good with 74.4% of respondents having a positive attitude and the mean attitude score was 13.57 ± 3.66. There was a statistically significant association between knowledge and attitude towards BSE (P= 0.000). Only 28.2%(99) of the participants actually practiced BSE of which only 42(12.0%) do it correctly with three fingers and palm monthly while. In 67% of participants, lack of knowledge on BSE was the main reason for not practicing BSE. A significant association (P=0.000) was found between level of knowledge and practice of BSE. Discussion: Knowledge and practice of BSE was lowering comparison to the highly positive attitude by the majority of participants towards BSE. This indicated a great call for more intensified sensitization programs to address and improve the knowledge and with that, practice of BSE.