Breast Self-Examination Behaviors and Skills among Women Aged 30 - 70 Years in Mukdahan Province

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to study behaviors and skills in breast self-examination, and the association of knowledge about breast cancer, belief, behavior, and skill in performing breast self-examination. The study was conducted among 400 female participants aged 30 - 70 years in Mukdahan Province using interview questionnaires and focus-group discussions during the period April-June 2019. The results of the interviews showed that 86.0% of participants used to perform breast self-examinations and 44.2% of them self-examined regularly > 5 times per year. However, most of them had not recorded the findings of their breast self-examinations (86.3%). About 37.5% of participants had never performed breast self-examination because of a lack of self-confidence in doing so. The results also showed that the participants with high knowledge and belief had higher breast self-examinations behavior (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001,respectively) The three prognostic factors for good breast self-examination behavior included knowledge about breast cancer, belief in breast cancer, and history of breast self-examination in the past 3 years. These prognostic factors could explain the variance in good behavior in performing breast self-examination at 25.5%; this model could also predict overall good behavior in performing breast self-examination at 69.8%. In conclusion, an awareness of the importance of breast self-examination should be cultivated in the target group, to reduce mortality rates from advanced-stage breast cancer, and simultaneously increase the detection rates of early-stage breast cancer.