Knowledge, attitude and practice towards breast cancer and its early detection measures among female students of Rift Valley University, Gullele campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Globally cancer is among the top leading causes of death. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Health education and communication have been found to promote health-seeking behavioral change with sufficient utilization and compliance to breast cancer prevention and screening strategies.

Objective: This study was designed to assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding breast cancer and its early detection measures among female students of Rift Valley University.

Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to select 310 study participants randomly. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information. The collected data were entered into SPSS version 20. Simple statistics such as frequencies, means, and standard deviations, binary and logistic regression were done as appropriate.

Result: A total of 310 study participants participated in the study, of these, only 2.8% of them had good knowledge about risk factors, signs and symptoms and early detection measures of breast cancer and 59.2% had a positive attitude towards breast cancer early detection measures. About 29.4% of the study participants had done breast self-examinations, from these only 6.8% of them practiced monthly. Level of education of the participant, parents’ occupation and program of enrolment were statistically significant association knowledge. Students whose parents’ occupation is health-related are more likely to practice breast self-examination than others with Adjusted odds ratio 7.654 (1.92, 16.12) (95% CI).

Conclusion: The finding of this study revealed that study participants have poor knowledge of risk factors, early detection measures and early warning signs of breast cancer. Improving women’s awareness and practice mainly through health education should be given emphasis.