Determining the knowledge, attitude and practice of breast-self examination (BSE) among female health care workers in Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya

Abstract

Breast cancer IS the fifth commonest malignancy III Kenya and its incidence is rising. Most women appear for treatment when the disease is already advanced; with grave prognostic outcome and thus there is need for a low risk method of breast cancer detection that every woman can easily perform regularly at her home and which is more likely to find a breast lump in an early stage like monthly breast self examination. Health care providers have an important role to play in informing, educating and training of women to perform breast self examination hence it is crucial that their knowledge is accurate and aids in building awareness. To determine the knowledge, attitude and practice on breast self-examination among female nurses in KNH. A cross sectional survey was conducted among 233 female nurses in KNH using a self-administered questionnaire. Out of 380 nurses, 233 participated in the study (61% response rate). Knowledge about symptoms, method of diagnosis breast cancer risk and breast selfexamination was generally good. Knowledge was significantly associated with having a relative suffering from breast cancer (p=0.001), nursing duration (p=0.01) and the professional qualification of the nurse (p=0.01). Practice of breast self examination was significantly associated with the knowledge of the subject (p=0.009). Nurses posses adequate knowledge about breast cancer but they need more information on cancer risk estimatio