Assessment of the Awareness and Practice of Women vis-à-vis Breast Self-Examination in Fasa in 2011

Background & Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most important causes of women's mortality the world over. Breast self-examination (BSE) is a method that often leads to detect breast cancer in the early stage. This study aimed at assessing the awareness and practice of women in the city of FASA vis-à-vis BSE.  Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study , 300 women over 15 years old who referred to the health centers of Fasa were chosen via the clustered method. A questionnaire comprising items about the patients’ demographics as well as their awareness and practice regarding BSE was completed for all the study population by a trained midwife through interviews. Subsequently, descriptive statistics , x2, and t-test were employed for analysis using SPSS Software ( version 15) .   Results: Fifty-five per cent of the cases had poor knowledge and 90% had poor practice. There was a significant correlation between knowledge and practice (p value < 0.0001). The highest level of knowledge was found among those with university levels of education. There was also a significant correlation between practice and educational levels (p value < 0.0001).   Conclusion: Given that the majority of the women under study had poor knowledge and function vis-à-vis BSE, it seems advisable that regular and systematic training programs be devised in relation to breast cancer prevention strategies such as practical classes on BSE , breast clinical examination, and mammography in order to raise awareness among women about the need to perform BSE.