The Relationship between Level of Education and Women s Knowledge and Practice of Breast Self-Examination

Introduction: Screening methods with their early detection are very effective in reducing risk of breast cancer deaths, as the most common cancer in Iranian women. Breast self-examination is a simple, effective, and inexpensive method for early detection of this cancer. People s knowledge is effective in their participation in preventive activities and screening. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the Relationship between Level of Education and Women s Knowledge and Practice of Breast Self-Examination(BSE).Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 150 women referred to health centers of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran,2017. Health centers were selected randomly and Convenience sampling method was done among women who had met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire which has measured demographic information and women s knowledge and practice of BSE. Data were analyzed by SPSS (v.23) and with chi-square test.Results: Women s educational status had significant relationship with their knowledge about the nature of BSE, it’s technique and history of Practice of BSE(p≤0.05). Among university educated women 89.1% had heard information about BSE, and 79.6% had a precise knowledge of BSE techniques; Which were significantly lower in women without university education. In university educated women 71.7% had a history of doing BSE, while nearly half of the women without university education (46.8%) have never done BSE. Conclusion: It seems that having university education is significantly associated with higher awareness and more appropriate performance of women regarding breast self-examination.

کلیدواژه ها:

Breast Self-Examination ، Educational Status ، women