Effect of educational intervention on knowledge of breast self-examination among senior secondary school female adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria: A quasi-experimental design

Objective: This study assessed the effect of educational intervention on knowledge of breast self-examination among senior secondary school female adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria. Method: A Two-group pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design was employed involving 200 female adolescents; researcher-led (RL,65), Abeokuta South, peer-led (PL,67) and Yewa South (CG, 68). Breast self-examination training was conducted in experimental groups for four (4) weeks. A structured questionnaire with Cronbach alpha coefficients of 0.725 was used to collect data at pre-intervention(P0), 2-week post-intervention(P1) and 6-week post-intervention(P2). Data were analysed on the IBM SPSS, using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test) at a 0.05 significance level. Results: At pre-intervention (P0), results revealed that most participants had moderate knowledge, RL (69%). PL (62.7%) and CG (76.5%). Post-intervention results at P1 and P2 indicated improved knowledge, RL= (73.8%,80%), and PL = (57.8%,71.4%), while CG remained moderate (76.5%, 61.8%). Significant differences were identified between P0 and P1 for BSE knowledge mean score in RL (3.9 t(64) = 8.8, p < 0.001), and PL (1.3 t(66) =2.46, p = .017). Significant differences were also found between P0 and P2 in RL (t(64)= -7.53; p> 0.001), and PL (t(62)= -4.91; p<0.001), Cohen’s d effect size were -0.93 (-1.22 to -0.63) and -0.62 (-0.88 to -0.34) for RL and PL respectively. Conclusion: Educational intervention improved BSE knowledge among female adolescents, and RL approach was more effective. It is recommended that healthcare professionals teach BSE to female adolescents as part of health promotion activities in school health programmes.