Breast Cancer Screening Trend Year 2017 among South-Western Nigeria Female Residents

Background: Breast cancer is the commonest of all cancers and a leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide, a situation that can be predicated upon by knowledge inadequacies and fundamental cancer prevention strategies. This study was therefore carried out to determine the screening trend among female residents in South-Western Nigeria and determine the significant effect of education and occupation on the screening of breast cancer.

Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out four South-Western States (Osun, Ekiti, Ogun & Lagos) in Nigeria. The target population was 20 years and above female residents of the states. Data was collected by trained volunteers and supervised by appointed supervisors, by a face-to-face interview. All data were statistically analysed, using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) windows version 23.0 software and statistical test of significance was performed with Chi-Square test while multiple comparisons was done using Post Hoc Bonferroni test.

Results: A total of 620 consenting respondents participated in the study with a mean age ± SD is 30.93 ± 8.03 years. 359 (57.9%) of them knew breast cancer doesn’t always produce symptoms, 392 (63.2%) knew how to perform breast self-examination (BSE) while 364 (58.7%) have ever done the BSE. The main factor significantly associated with breast cancer screening were educational status (χ² = 196.48, df = 3, P = 0.001) and occupation (χ² = 172.95, df = 4, P = 0.001). The odds for performing breast self-examination (BSE) for women who know that breast cancer does not necessarily produce symptoms especially in the early stages is low (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.28 – 0.92).

Conclusion: This study shows inadequate screening practices even among those aware of the various screening techniques indicating the urgent need for re-orientation and development of more efficient educational programs particularly in schools and communities aimed at reducing the identified barriers to breast cancer screening practices and early detection in order the stem the tide of the disease, the arising mortality and make available timely treatment options.