Knowledge of breast self-examination among female students of College of Health Technology, Aba, Abia State, Nigeria

Background: The female breast is an important organ of lactation consisting of network of ducts and lobules. Breast disorders can be malignant or benign. Prevention remains a fundamental strategy in the control of breast cancer. Therefore, screening and early detection play important roles in the treatment and prognosis of breast cancer. The knowledge and health-seeking behaviour for breast cancer management are low in Africa, such that majority of the affected patients present late to the hospital when little or nothing can be done in terms of treatment.

Objective: To determine the knowledge of breast self-examination (BSE) among female students at College of Health Technology Aba Abia, State, Nigeria.

Materials and methods: A descriptive-cross sectional study was conducted among female students of college of health technology Aba. Abia state. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from the female students which were entered into SPSS version 26 for analysis. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify variables having a significant association with students’ knowledge.

Results: The mean age of the respondents is 23±3.461, 398 (93.3%) students participated in the study with a non-responsive rate of 6.7%. Majority of the study participants 279 (70.1%) were in the 18-23 year-age group and 350 (87.9%) were single. The dominant tribe and religion were Igbo 380 (95.5%) and Christianity 387 (97.2%) respectively, 44 (11.1%) of them have children. Social media was a major source of information. Two hundred and seventy-four (68.4%) had good knowledge. Students who were unmarried (AOR; 3.223, p =0.03), Christian students (2.309, p = 0.002), students aged ≤ 23 years (AOR; 3.415 p = 0.004) were statistically associated with students knowledgeable of BSE.

Conclusion:  Respondents had high level of knowledge of Breast self-examination. Marriage, age and Christianity were predators to knowledge of BSE.