TY  - BOOK
AU  -  Maingu, Leons. C
AU  -   Mtalitinya, Gideon
AU  -  Domenica Morona
TI  -  Knowledge and Screening Practices on Breast Cancer Among Women Aged 15 to 60 Years at Sekou Toure Hospital
PY  - 2017///
CY  - Mwanza, Tanzania: 
PB  - Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS – Bugando] :   
KW  -  
N2  - Abstract: 

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women both in developed and countries. About 1.7 million new cases were diagnosed in 2012. Limited disease awareness among women may impact breast cancer stage at diagnosis in Tanzania, reducing survival. This study assessed knowledge and screening practices on breast cancer among inpatient and outpatients at Sekou Toure hospital. The exploration breast cancer related knowledge and screening practices was essential in order to develop an appropriate socio-economic, political and cultural specific model to improve breast cancer knowledge and screening practice for early detection and diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer at its early stage and reduce the mortality rate associated with breast cancer in Tanzania. 

Methodology: All the patients who meet the inclusion criteria were enrolled after obtaining voluntary informed consent. Women aged 15 to 60 years admitted in wards and those who reported at out-patient department during the study period and had consented were included in the study. It was a descriptive cross sectional study. A randomized sample of women was surveyed regarding (1) knowledge on risk factors and clinical features of breast cancer, (2) screening practice on breast cancer. With a 95% confidence level and a sampling error of 5%, a sample size of 201 was obtained using a standard formula for estimating sample size. Participants were interviewed using structured questionnaire administered in Swahili. Confidentiality was major priority and was observed. The data was entered into IBM SPSS statistics version 20 program. And for data analysis, answers were described as knowledge and screening practice and they were correlated with control variables through the chi-square. Permission to carry out this study was granted by the ethics and research committee of catholic university of health and allied sciences and hospital medical chief officer at Sekou Toure hospital. 

Results: Among 201 respondents, 43.3% had awareness on breast cancer and screening practice. More than 80% not know about the risk factors for breast cancer while 75.9% of respondents displayed a poor knowledge, and only 1.1% had knowledge about the disease. However, higher levels of education were associated with better appreciation of the disease (x² =0.316, p=0.001). Regarding screening practices. For those who engaged in screening practice, 51.4% engaged in breast self-examination, while those engaged in clinical breast examination and mammography were 45.7% and 2.9% respectively. However, a higher educational level of the respondents was significantly related to breast cancer screening practice (x²=39.167, p<0.001). 

Conclusion: This work reveals a low awareness on breast cancer and inappropriate breast cancer screening practices among Tanzania women. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed journals to raise awareness about breast cancer practices. 




ER  -