Effectiveness of Video Health Education on Breast Cancer Awareness and Self-Examination in the New Age of Digitalisation: Community-Based Evidence from a Developing Nation.

Abstract

Objective: Developing nations with resource limited settings see a higher proportion of presentation at advanced stages of breast cancer compared to developed nations because of poor public awareness and lack of screening guidelines. This study aimed to assess the impact of a video-based teaching module on breast cancer awareness and self-examination among literate women in a developing country.

Materials and methods: This quasi-experimental, community-based, intervention study was conducted among literate women of a metropolitan city in a developing country, to evaluate the impact of a video-based teaching module on breast cancer awareness and self-examination. Female school teachers over 25 years old with virtual platform access were included. Simple random sampling was used to select participant schools. The target sample size was 103 based on a reference study. An educational video and questionnaires were validated through expert and volunteer feedback, followed by baseline and follow-up surveys at 6 weeks and 10 weeks after intervention. The Friedman test for overall change in scores and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for pairwise comparison between time points.

Results: The survey was completed by 181 participants. Mean (standard deviation) age was 41.79 (9.20) years. Median (interquartile range) cumulative score for the knowledge domain was 18 (14-21), 24 (19-32) and 25 (20-33) at baseline, 6 weeks and 10 weeks respectively with significant differences between each of these time points (p<0.001). There was a significant increase in the number of participants with a median score of 3 at 6 and 10 weeks compared to baseline in the attitude domain after intervention. The proportion of study participants with a score of ≥3 points in the practices domain increased from 22% (40/181) at baseline to 41.2% (74/181) at 6 weeks and 49.1% (89/181) at 10 weeks of educational intervention.

Conclusion: A video-based educational intervention may enhance breast cancer knowledge, attitudes, and self-examination practices in educated women with access to electronic media. This may contribute to early breast cancer detection in resource-constrained settings with limited screening options.