Breast Cancer Knowledge And Screening Practices Among Nigerian Medical Students

Background. Late presentation of patients at advanced stages of disease forms the hallmark of breast cancer in Nigerian women. The peak age of breast cancer presentation among Nigerian women is about 10-15years earlier than what is observed in Caucasian women, where it occurs between the ages of 35-45 years. This study assessed breast cancer knowledge and behavior in terms of screening practices among introductory clinical medical students in Delta State. Nigeria. Materials and Method. The data consisted of selected and constructed response items on a questionnaire which was administered to all introductory clinical (medical) students 18 years and older. Participation in this study was voluntary. The instrument consisted of multiple choice questions that measured variables such as general breast cancer knowledge, risk factors, symptoms, barriers, use of breast cancer screening tests, screening practices, and demographic characteristics. Results. A total of 18 questionnaires were distributed to introductory clinical (medical) students age 18 years and above at the Delta State University in Warri, Nigeria. The response rate was 100%. Age range of respondents was 21-26 years. The overall knowledge of breast cancer was 89.1% while knowledge of the risk factors for breast cancer development was 62.7%. Knowledge of breast cancer symptoms was 67.8%. There were no barriers to breast screening exercises. All the participants admitted performing breast self examination regularly but 22.2% did not know how often breast examination should be done. Three participants (16.7%) have never been told about breast cancer screening by a nurse or physician previously and 16 students (88.9%) have never had a clinical breast examination. Conclusion. While the overall knowledge of breast-cancer, risk factors and performance of breast self examination were good, further studies on a wider scale in Nigeria are needed to elucidate reasons why the elite women do not present themselves for clinical breast examination and why the physicians do not practice routine clinical breast examination.