Abstract
Breast self-examination (BSE) is a screening method which is easily performed by woman to detect palpable lumps in the breast areas. Ministry of Health in Malaysia recommended BSE as a way to increase the awareness of women at risk. The practice of BSE has been seen to empower women and encourage them to take responsibility of their own health. This study aimed to determine the practice of BSE and source of knowledge of BSE among urban females. Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in selected urban areas in Selangor. A randomized sample consisted of 552 females, aged 20 years old and above, was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. In addition to socio-demography, frequency and reason for practising BSE besides the source of their knowledge were obtained. Analysis was performed using SPSS version 17.0. Results: The response rate for this study was 90.7 %. The mean age of respondents was 32.2 ± 12.1 years old. The percentage of respondents who practised BSE was 74.5 %. Only 24.2 % of them practised it monthly. Most of the respondents (68.5 %) gained knowledge of BSE from health campaigns/brochures. Majority (88.3 %) of those practising BSE cited the reason of doing it was to detect breast malignancy at its early stage. We found that the rate of practising BSE was significantly higher among Malays (77.7 %), married (80.2 %), aged 50–59 years old (90.7 %) and unemployed (80.7 %). There were no significant differences between those who practised BSE and those who did not in regard to monthly family income and educational level. Conclusion: More health promoting activities can strengthen the regular practice of BSE to advocate early detection of breast abnormalities.
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Abdullah, N.N., Al-Kubaisy, W., Daud, S. (2016). Breast Self-Examination Practices in Selected Urban Areas in Malaysia. In: Abdullah, M., Yahya, W., Ramli, N., Mohamed, S., Ahmad, B. (eds) Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1458-1_66
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1458-1_66
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