title: Knowledge, attitude and practice about breast cancer and breast self-examination among women seeking out-patient care in a teaching hospital in central India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breast cancer (BC) continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Early detection of BC and early treatment increases the chance of survival. According to Breast Health Global Initiative guidelines for low and middle income countries, diagnosing BCs early by promoting breast self-awareness; clinical breast examination (CBE) and resource adapted mammographic screening will reduce BC mortality. There is a paucity of data on the knowledge and awareness of BC and self-breast examination in India. We designed this hospital based cross sectional descriptive study to evaluate the current status of knowledge, awareness and practices related to BC and breast self-examination in the female rural population attending a teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We did a random sampling to identify and enroll 360 women and their female relatives. We excluded a participant from the study if she had already undergone a screening mammography or had had a BC. The data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire in vernacular language.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study population included 360 women with a mean age of 45.81 (±10.9) years. Only 5 (1.38%) females had a family history of BC. A whopping 81% of women did not have any knowledge about BC. All the women thought that CBE by doctors was the only way for screening BC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that with the results of this study, it is imperative to increase awareness about BC and its detection methods in the community through health education campaigns. We should have major policy changes to increase future screening programs and health education programs which would have an overall positive impact on reducing the disease burden.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Rao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Siddharth
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Narang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000379:methods*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients