Breast self-examination among female clients in a tertiary hospital in Eastern Uganda.

Abstract

Background: Breast self-examination is a widely accepted, inexpensive and non-complex screening method for breast cancer because it does not entail complex technical training and therefore a more practical approach in a resource limited setting. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female clients at Mbale Regional Referral hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study employing qualitative and quantitative methods was carried out among 386 women selected by simple random sampling. Data was analyzed using SPSS v 16.0 and presented in tables. Univariate and bivariate analysis was done and a P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant while the results with a P-value ≤ 0.2 were considered for multivariate analysis. Results: Both the knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among the participants in this study were low. Less than 50% of the participants had ever heard about breast self-examination. Only 24% of those who had ever heard about breast self-examination correctly reported that it should be done monthly. Both knowledge and practice of breast self-examination were associated with living in the urban setting, high level of education, occupation and religion. Conclusion: There was limited knowledge about breast self-examination among women in Mbale Regional Referral Hospital and this corresponds with the low practice of the same. Only a few participants reported practicing breast self-examination monthly.