Behavior of College Students in Health Related Departments Towards Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The study was performed in order to determine the behavior of college students studying in health related departments for the early diagnosis of breast cancer.


METHODS
This study is a cross sectional study. 336 female students studying in School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences at a foundation university in Istanbul were included. A questionnaire directed to collect data regarding the participants' socio-demographic characteristics and their behavior on the early diagnosis of breast cancer was used. Data were evaluated by descriptive statistics and chi-square test.


RESULTS
The mean age of students was 21.26±1.94, and 30.7% of the participants majored in nutrition, 29.2% in nursing, 22.9% in midwifery, 17.3% in physical therapy and rehabilitation departments. It was determined that 53.3% of the students made regular breast self-examination (BSE), and 88.1% did not get a clinical breast examination (CBE) within the last year. It was noticed that students who had BSE training, made more BSE and CBE as compared to those who did not get any education. Students with family history of breast cancer was performing more BSE that those without a family history. It was identified that students with BSE training and family history of breast cancer used BSE at a higher rate.


CONCLUSIONS
It was identified that students with BSE training and family history of breast cancer usage of techniques to perform a BSE at a higher rate.
Haliç University School of Nursing, İstanbul, Turkey.
Nesrin
N
İlhan
Haliç University School of Nursing, İstanbul, Turkey.
Ayşe Gülnur
AG
Çöl
Haliç University School of Nursing, İstanbul, Turkey.
Emine
E
Tanboğa
Haliç University School of Nursing, İstanbul, Turkey.
Alaattin
A
Şengül
Haliç University School of Nursing, İstanbul, Turkey.
Makbule
M
Batmaz
College students; breast self-examination; clinical breast examination