Practice of Breast Self-Examination and Associated Factors among Female Nurses of Hawassa University Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital, South Ethiopia, 2018

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. The aim of this study was to assess practice of breast self-examination and associated factors among nurses. Methods: A hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2018 on a sample of 180 female nurses. Pretested and structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data entry was done using EPI Info 3.5.4 and exported to SPSS version 20.0 software package for analysis. Results: This study revealed that 71.2% of nurses ever practiced BSE. From those nurses who practiced BSE, only 28.1% did it regularly; 16.4% monthly (right response) and 32.0% of them, only a week after menses. Seven of them detected a breast mass/lump and only 16.4% of nurses have taught BSE technique to their clients. Educational status of the nurses (AOR and 95% CI: 2.91; 1.74, 4.85) and family history of breast cancer (AOR and 95% CI: 5.2; 2.34, 8.15 were significantly associated with BSE practice. Conclusion: This study discovered severe gap about the correct practice of SBE among female nurses. The hospital and ministry of health of Ethiopia have to give regular education and training on BSE, especially on how to practice BSE correctly.

Keywords: Nurse, breast cancer, breast self-examination, Ethiopia

Cite this Article

Wegene Jemebere. Practice of breast self-examination and associated factors among female nurses of Hawassa University comprehensive and specialized hospital, south Ethiopia, 2018. Research & Reviews: Journal of Computational Biology. 2018; 7(2): 23–31p