Breast tumors and college students: a study of their knowledge, attitude and practice

Introduction: Breast cancer is a public health problem worldwide. Breast cancer can be prevented through inexpensive behavioral change. At the same time, not all breast lumps are cancerous and benign breast tumors can be a major source of confusion among young women. This study aimed to assess the level of awareness and risk reduction knowledge about breast tumors and whether the participants are aware about breast self examination (BSE). Materials and Method: A community-based cross-sectional descriptive study involving data from 400 female college students aged above 18 years. The data was collected using a structured and validated questionnaire. The data entry was done in Microsoft excel spreadsheet and SPSS version 17 and descriptive (frequency and percentage) statistics was used for analysis. Results: The self -reported data from 400 college women was obtained with median age of 19. The knowledge about the risk factors among college going female population was low. 42.5% participants knew that breast lump is the most common presentation. 65.75% of participants were aware of breast self examination. Only11% of 65.75% practiced self breast examination regularly. Remaining 89% didn't know how to practice BSE. Conclusion: This study included college population, yet showed a tremendous lack of knowledge about breast cancer, which shows the ineffectiveness of the breast cancer awareness initiatives in this region. This study highlights the need to formulate awareness programmes and health education to provide breast cancer prevention education targeting college women.