Breast self examination - awareness and practices among lady health workers

ABSTRACT

To find out the awareness and practices regarding breast self examination [BSE] among the lady health workers of Tehsil Arifwala, district Pakpatan, Punjab. This cross sectional study was conducted in July 2011. 300 LHW's fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected through consecutive sampling technique. Information was collected regarding awareness and practices of BSE through interviews on questionnaire covering all variables. The BSE practices of LHW's were determined on the basis of two criteria 1. Number of BSE steps performed [categorized as 'average' for performing >2 steps and 'below average' for performing one or two steps]. 2. Interval of BSE [categorized as 'correct' for regular monthly interval and 'incorrect' for >1 month interval]. Data was entered and cleaned using Epi Data 3.1 and analyzed using Epi Info 3.5.1 Mean age of participants was 32.06 +/- 7.8 years. Majority were married [79%], rural dwellers [64.3%], had job experience up to 5 years [55.3%] and were educated above middle [53.7%]. Majority 280 [93.3%] were aware of breast self examination but only 80 [28.5%] were practicing it. Out of 80 who were performing BSE, 34 [12.1%] were practicing BSE at correct interval and only 46 [16.4%] were practicing average steps. Significant relationship was found between the age and awareness while higher levels of job experience had a significant relationship with BSE practice. The awareness level of LHW's regarding BSE was relatively high as compared to their practices of BSE. As a LHW has direct link with the community, there is a need to organize training courses for LHW's regarding correct BSE practices. Special emphasis should be paid to timeliness and steps of the procedure so that she can provide proper information to community for early detection of breast cancer.