Women’s Health Bulletin

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Authorship Rules and Regulations

Indexing and Abstracting

Peer Review Process

Forms

Awareness of Breast Cancer and Practice of Breast Self-Examination among Urban Underprivileged Women in Bangalore city, India

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Community Health, St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore, India

2 University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Ohio, USA

3 Biocon Foundation, Bangalore, India

Abstract

Background: The low breast cancer survivorship in India compared to developed countries has been found to be attributed to late detection. Breast self-examination (BSE) still remains a viable screening option among poor and marginalised communities. We conducted the present study to determine breast cancer awareness and practice of BSE and their determinants among urban underprivileged women.
Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional study in an urban underprivileged area in Bangalore city in early 2020, among women aged 25 years or more. Our sample size was estimated as 714 subjects. The interview schedule included Breast Cancer Awareness Measure We employed chi-square test for associations and logistic regression analysis for adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.
Results: Out of the 751 women, 60.3% were not aware of any symptoms and 61.1% were not aware of any risk factors of breast cancer. Only 6% had heard of BSE and 3.4% reported performing BSE in the past year. The practice of BSE was found to be more prevalent among women who were aware of at least one symptom [OR=6.8(2.5-18.2), p <0.001] or one risk factor [OR=12.9(3.9- 43.6), p <0.001] of breast cancer and among those with past attendance at a breast cancer screening camp [OR=31.4(13.3-74.1),p <0.001].
Conclusion: Poor awareness concerning breast cancer and woefully inadequate practice of BSE among urban underprivileged women highlights the requirement for targeted interventions in such communities. The importance of awareness of breast cancer as a precursor to practice BSE was evident in our study, which emphasizes the need for increased access to quality and credible health information. This study emphasizes the importance of community-based programming, like breast cancer screening camps, in order to improve practice of BSE.

Keywords

References
1. Ferlay J, Colombet M, Soerjomataram I, Mathers C, Parkin DM, Piñeros M, et al. Estimating the global cancer incidence and mortality in 2018: GLOBOCAN sources and methods. International Journal of Cancer. 2019;144(8):1941–53. doi: 10.1002/ijc.31937. PubMed PMID: 30350310. ## 2. World Cancer Research Fund [Internet]. Breast Cancer Statistics. [cited 2020 Apr 29]. Available from: https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/cancer-trends/breast-cancer-statistics. ## 3. Malvia S, Bagadi SA, Dubey US, Saxena S. Epidemiology of breast cancer in Indian women. Asia Paci J Clin Oncol.2017;13(4):289–95. doi: 10.1111/ajco.12661. PubMed PMID:: 28181405. ## 4. Breast Cancer India [Internet]. Statistics of Breast Cancer in India. [cited 2020 Apr 29]. Available from: http://www.breastcancerindia.net/statistics/trends.html. ## 5. Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, Harewood R, Matz M, Nikšić M, et al. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000–14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37,513,025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries. Lancet. 2018;391(10125):1023–75. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33326-3. PubMed PMID: 29395269; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5879496. ## 6. World Health Organization. WHO position paper on mammography screening. WHO Geneva 2014. ISBN: 978-92-4-150793-6. ## 7. Government of India: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Operational Framework: Management of Common Cancers. 2016. Available from: http://cancerindia.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Operational_Framework_Management_of_Common_Cancers.pdf. ## 8. Wall K, Núñez-Rocha G, Salinas-Martínez A, Sánchez-Peña S. Determinants of the use of breast cancer screening among women workers in Urban Mexico. Prev Chronic Dis 2008;5(2):A50. PubMed PMID: 18341785; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2396987. ## 9. Shrivastava S, Saurabh Shrivastava P, Ramasamy J. Self Breast Examination: A Tool for Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer. Am J Public Heal Res. 2013;1(6):135–9. doi: 10.12691/ajphr-1-6-2. ## 10. Smith R, Cokkinides V, Eyre H. American Cancer Society Guidelines for the Early Detection of Cancer, 2005. CA Cancer J Clin 2005;55:31–44. PubMed PMID: 15661685. ## 11. Chong PN, Krishnan M, Hong CY, Swah TS. Knowledge and practice of breast cancer screening amongst public health nurses in Singapore. Singapore Med J. 2002 Oct;43(10):509-16. PubMed PMID: 12587705. ## 12. Kim SJ, Glassgow AE, Watson KS, Molina Y, Calhoun EA. Gendered and racialized social expectations, barriers, and delayed breast cancer diagnosis. Cancer. 2018;124(22):4350–7. doi: 10.1002/cncr.31636. PubMed PMID: 30246241; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6487877. ## 13. Somdatta P, Baridalyne N. Awareness of breast cancer in women of an urban resettlement colony. Indian J Cancer 2008;45(4):149–53. doi:10.4103/0019-509x.44662. PubMed PMID: 19112202. ## 14. Linsell L, Forbes LJL, Burgess C, Kapari M, Thurnham A, Ramirez AJ. Validation of a measurement tool to assess awareness of breast cancer. Eur J Cancer. 2010;46(8):1374–81. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2010.02.034. PubMed PMID: 20335018. ## 15. Liu N, Li P, Wang J, Chen DD, Sun WJ, Guo PP, et al. Psychometric properties of the Breast Cancer Awareness Measurement among Chinese women: A cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2020;10(3):1–7. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035911. ## 16. Pandey VK, Aggarwal P, Kakkar R. Modified BG prasad socio-economic classification, update - 2019. Indian J Community Heal. 2019;31(1):123–5. ## 17. Tripathi N, Kadam YR, Dhobale R V, Gore AD. Barriers for early detection of cancer amongst Indian rural women. South Asian J Cancer. 2014;3(2):122–7. doi: 10.4103/2278-330X.130449. PubMed PMID: 24818108; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4014643. ## 18. Trevethan R. Deconstructing and Assessing Knowledge and Awareness in Public Health Research. Front Public Health. 2017;5:194. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2017.00194. PubMed PMID: 28824900; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5545880. ## 19. Gupta A, Shridhar K, Dhillon PK. A review of breast cancer awareness among women in India: Cancer literate or awareness deficit? Eur J Cancer. 2015;51(14):2058–66. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2015.07.008. PubMed PMID: 26232859; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4571924. ## 20. Sayed S, Moloo Z, Ngugi A, Allidina A, Ndumia R, Mutuiri A, et al. Breast Camps for awareness and early diagnosis of breast cancer in countries with limited resources: A multidisciplinary model from Kenya. Oncologist. 2016;21(9):1138–48. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist. PubMed PMID: 27401898; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5016070. ## 21. Paunikar AP, Khadilkar HA, Doibale MK, Kuril BM. Knowledge, attitude and practices of women towards breast cancer in the field practice area of urban health training centre, Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Int J Community Med Public Heal. 2017;4(10):3659. doi: 10.4103/2141-9248.113653. PubMed PMID: 23919181; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3728854. ## 22. Kumar YS, Mishra G, Gupta S, Shastri S. Level of cancer awareness among women of low socioeconomic status in Mumbai slums. Asian Pacific J Cancer Prev. 2011;12(5):1295–8. PubMed PMID: 21875285. ## 23. Cockburn J, de Luise T, Hurley S f., de Luise T. Psychological consequences of screening mammography. J Med Screen. 1994;1(1):7–12. doi: 10.1177/096914139400100104. PubMed PMID: 8790480. ## 24. Ellman R, Angeli N, Christians A, Moss S, Chamberlain J, Maguire P. Psychiatric morbidity associated with screening for breast cancer. Br J Cancer. 1989;60(5):781–4. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1989.359. PubMed PMID: 2803955; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2247323. ##
Women’s Health Bulletin
Volume 7, Issue 4 - Serial Number 27
October 2020
Pages 39-45
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics