title: Breast self-examination: an analysis of self-reported practice.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the performance of breast self-examination (BSE) and age, place of residence, ethnic background and religion, as well as whether a group willing to take part in an interview regarding BSE mirrored the whole population. Six hundred and ninety-four (69.4%) women, aged 25-80, responded to the questionnaire. Of these, 69.6% examined their breasts. Whether the subjects lived in urban or rural areas was of no importance for practising BSE, nor was country of birth or number of years in Sweden. A larger proportion of women aged 45-80 practised BSE compared with women aged 25-44 (P < 0.001), the former practising BSE once a month or more. Step-wise logistic regression analysis showed that, for the whole sample as well as for the interview group, age was the only significant predictor of breast self-examination (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the whole sample and the interview group. The importance of younger women performing the examination is stressed. Due to nurses being strategically located in a wide range of geographical locations, allowing them to meet women in different settings, they are a good choice for motivating women to practise BSE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Jönköping, Sweden. Kerstin:Persson@hhj.hj.se
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012067:Religion; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013548:Sweden