The Effectiveness of the Decision-Making Enhancement Program for Breast Self-Examination among Lahu Women in Chiang Mai Province
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Abstract
This quasi-experimental research with a two-group pretest-posttest design aimed to study the effects of a decision-making enhancement program for breast self-examination on the knowledge about breast self-examination, beliefs about breast self-examination, and breast self-examination behavior among Lahu women. The sample comprised Lahu women aged 20-59. These study areas were selected by simple random sampling. There were 35 individuals in each of the comparison and experimental groups. The research instruments consisted of 1) the 8-week decision-making enhancement program for breast self-examination, consisting of knowledge development, breast self-examination practice, and a speech by religious leaders regarding emphasis on breast self-examination; 2) a breast self-examination video; 3) a breast self-examination guide; and 4) a questionnaire with IOC equal to 1 on knowledge about breast self-examination, beliefs about breast self-examination, and breast self-examination behavior. The score for KR-20 of knowledge about breast self-examination in the questionnaire was .94. The values of Cronbach’s alpha were as follows, beliefs about breast self-examination .75, and breast self-examination behavior .79. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used for data analysis.
The results revealed that the posttest of knowledge about breast self-examination, beliefs about breast self-examination, and breast self-examination behaviors of the experimental group were significantly better than those of the comparison group (t = -26.63, p-value < .05; t = -13.53, p-value < .05; t = -49.02, p-value < .05, respectively). The program can be applied to Lahu women to examine their breasts in similar contexts.
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