title: Breast cancer screening practices and awareness in women admitted to a tertiary care hospital of Lahore, Pakistan.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, FMH, College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore.
authors.forename: Bilal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maqsood
authors.forename: Malik Muhammad
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zeeshan
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aslam
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zafar
authors.forename: Birra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: Khazina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Qadeer
authors.forename: Saad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ajmal
authors.forename: Sardar Zakariya
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Imam
mesh_terms: 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*