Breast cancer screening practices and awareness in women admitted to a tertiary care hospital of Lahore, Pakistan.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the awareness and practices of women with regard to breast cancer and its different methods of screening.


METHODS
A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the inpatient wards of Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore. By convenience sampling, 200 female inpatients were selected. An interviewer based pre-tested questionnaire was used to ask questions regarding knowledge and practices about breast self-examination, clinical breast examination, and mammography.


RESULTS
A total of 189 patients gave consent to be interviewed. One hundred and sixty one (84%) patients had heard of breast cancer, 35% were aware of one or two major risk factors while 65% knew at least one major sign or symptom of breast cancer. Eighty five percent of respondents believed that early detection of cancer improved survival. Of the 101 participants > 40 years of age, 36.9% practiced Breast Self Examination, 6.9% Clinical Breast Examination and only 4.9% had had a mammogram at some point in their life. Most patients did not practice breast cancer screening because they had either never heard of the screening tests, or did not feel the need to perform them.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study revealed lack of awareness regarding breast cancer and its screening practices. Most women did not practice breast cancer screening. Increased awareness should be made through health education and doctors' encouragement of BSE, CBE and Mammography practice.
Maqsood
Bilal
B
Department of Community Health Sciences, FMH, College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore.
Zeeshan
Malik Muhammad
MM
Rehman
Fatima
F
Aslam
Farah
F
Zafar
Ayesha
A
Syed
Birra
B
Qadeer
Khazina
K
Ajmal
Saad
S
Imam
Sardar Zakariya
SZ
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*