Knowledge of Breast Cancer, Practice of Breast Self-Examination and Associated Factors Among Rural Reproductive Age Women of Dire Wareda, Borena Zone, Ethiopia

Breast cancer is now a worldwide problem, yet it is still detected in its advanced stages. Breast self-examination is an easy and cost effective method which is helpful in early detection of breast cancer that everyone can practice. This study was aims to assess the knowledge of breast cancer, practice of breast self-examination and associated factors among reproductive age women. A community based cross-sectional study with a convergent qualitative study design was conducted among 624 women of reproductive age of Dire Wareda, Borana zone, Ethiopia. Multistage sampling technique for quantitative and purposive sampling for qualitative part was used to select the study participants. Interviewer administered questionnaires for quantitative study and semi-structured questionnaires for qualitative study were used to collect data. For analysis, quantitative data was exported to SPSS version 25. In bivariate logistic regressions analysis, variables having p -value < .25 were candidate for multivariable logistic regression analysis. Significantly associated variables were reported on adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval and p -value < .05. Narrative analysis was done for qualitative result manually. Overall, 198 (32.4%) of women had good knowledge about breast cancer, and only 30 (4.9%) were ever practiced breast self-examination. Women who had high income and learned high school and above were 3 times more likely to knew about breast cancer than those who had low income and had no formal education, AOR = 3.37 (95% CI [1.91, 5.95]) and AOR = 3.54 (95% CI [1.96, 6.37]) respectively. Women aged from 25 to 34 were 6 times more likely to knew about breast cancer as compared to women aged from 15 to 24, AOR = 6.12 (95% CI [2.85, 13.14]). Employed women were 2 times more likely to know about breast cancer than housewives, AOR = 2.12 (95% CI [1.11, 4.06]). Women who educated high school and above were 2 times more likely to practice breast self-examination than women who had no formal education AOR = 2.91 (95% CI [1.09, 7.79]). Employed women 3 times more likely to practice breast self-examination than housewives, AOR = 3.2 (95% CI [1.27, 8.99]). This study identified that the knowledge of breast cancer and practice of breast self-examination were poor among women of reproductive age in the study area as compared to other studies. Stakeholders and concerned bodies should arrange and participate in teaching the community on breast cancer and practice of breast self-examination.