Knowledge of breast self-examination among 820 women assisted at the University Hospital of Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the understanding and knowledge of breast self-examination among 820 women assisted at the University Hospital of Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, in addition to the manner in which they have acquired knowledge of this examination, and its association with socioeconomic variables. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Structured interviews were conducted with 820 women assisted at the University Hospital of the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora.The association between the variables was performed using the χ2 test. Results: 92.4% of the sample was aware of the breast self-examination.The main sources of information were television, medical consultation and educational campaigns, accounting for 50.5, 43.8 and 17.2%, respectively. Among the interviewed women, 68.8% considered themselves capable of performing the breast self-examination and 61.3% reported the habit of performing it. Among these, 62.4% perform it monthly. With regard to the best period to perform the breast selfexamination, 38.5% consider that it should be done immediately after menstruation, 20.5% at any time, 17.7% before menstruation, 7.4% during menstruation, and 15.9% do not know. A total of 55.7% believed they were not able to differentiate a normal breast tissue from a nodule during the exam. We observed higher occurrence and understanding of breast self-examination among women whose income was above two minimum wages (p=0.01). Conclusions: Despite being a controversial practice, most women acquire information about the breast self-examination by means of non-medical sources. As a consequence, over half of the women are not aware of the proper time to perform the exam as well as they do not feel capable of performing it. This justifies the need for technical and evidence-based adequate information.