Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Malaysian women, and the use of breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography remain low in Malaysia. Therefore, there is a need to develop a valid and reliable tool to measure the beliefs that influence breast cancer screening practices. The Champion's Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS) is a valid and reliable tool to measure beliefs about breast cancer and screening methods in the Western culture. The purpose of this study was to translate the use of CHBMS into the Malaysian context and validate the scale among Malaysian women.
Matched MeSH terms: Breast Self-Examination/statistics & numerical data
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer and the second reason of cancer deaths among woman worldwide, including Malaysia. The objective of this paper is to assess the practice of breast self-examination (BSE) and identify the barriers of BSE practice among undergraduate female students in Malaysia.
The practice of breast self-examination (BSE) amongst 1,303 women registered with the Well Person's Clinic, Outpatient Department, Hospital Ipoh between April 1995 and March 1997 were assessed through a questionnaire. Majority (98.2%) were never taught and did not practise BSE, 17(1.3%) practised BSE while 6 (0.5%) were taught BSE but failed to put it into practice. Only 5.8% of 52 women with past/family history of breast cancer/lump and 2.9% of 207 women with past/family history of other cancers were practising BSE regularly. Three out of 64 women with breast lumps found on clinical breast examination discovered the lumps themselves. Five of the 64 women were subsequently confirmed to have breast carcinoma.
Study site: Outpatient clinic, Hospital Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
A total of 486 Malaysian women electronics workers participated in a study of reproductive health knowledge and cancer screening. The practice of Breast Self Examination (BSE) was found to be related to educational attainment; while ever having had a Pap smear was found to be related to being older than 30 years old, being ever married, living with family or relatives, and not staying in hostels. Knowledge on reproductive health was found to be higher for older women, married women, living with family or relatives, not staying in hostels, ever having done BSE and ever having had a Pap smear.
As is the case in many developing nations, previous studies of breast cancer screening behavior in Malaysia have used relatively small samples that are not nationally representative, thereby limiting the generalizability of results. Therefore, this study uses nationally representative data from the Malaysia Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance-1 to investigate the role of socio-economic status on breast cancer screening behavior in Malaysia, particularly differences in screening behaviour between ethnic groups. The decisions of 816 women above age 40 in Malaysia to screen for breast cancer using mammography, clinical breast exams (CBE), and breast self-exams (BSE) are modeled using logistic regression. Results indicate that after adjusting for differences in age, education, household income, marital status, and residential location, Malay women are less likely than Chinese and Indian women to utilize mammography, but more likely to perform BSE. Education level and urban residence are positively associated with utilization of each method, but these relationships vary across ethnicity. Higher education levels are strongly related to using each screening method among Chinese women, but have no statistically significant relationship to screening among Malays.
Abstract
AIM:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, including Malaysia. In developing countries, predictors affecting breast self-examination (BSE) practice are different. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of BSE practice and the predictors affecting BSE practice among undergraduate female students in Klang Valley, Malaysia.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 820 female undergraduate students to assess the BSE performance and related determinants of BSE practice in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data were collected via a self-administered structured questionnaire that was developed for this study.
RESULTS:
The mean age of the respondents was 21.7 ± 1.2 years old. Most of them were single (96.8%), Malay (91.9%) and 19.6% of the participants performed BSE regularly. Multivariate logistic regression modeling revealed that BSE performance was more likely among women who have checked their breast with a doctor (odds ratio = 2.04, P = 0.00), and women who have personal history of breast disease (odds ratio = 4.43, P = 0.03).
CONCLUSION:
The findings showed a low BSE practice rate among young Malaysian women. Hence, the community's breast health awareness is needed to improve breast cancer prevention among young Malaysian women.
KEYWORDS:
Malaysia; breast self-examination; predictors