PRACTICE OF BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION AMONG ANTENATAL ATTENDEES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UYO TEACHING HOSPITAL, UYO, NIGERIA.

Background: Breast self-examination is the most commonly available screening method for the detection of breast cancer. This is especially true in resource-poor settings due to its convenience, safety, and privacy. It also does not require the use of equipment or a visit to the hospital, which may not be readily accessible. This study examines the awareness of breast cancer in antenatal attendees in our hospital and explores the knowledge, attitude, and practice of self-examination of the breast. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out over a 3-month period with the assistance of self-administered questionnaires administered to 115 consenting antenatal attendees at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the study data. Pearson’s rank correlation was used to assess the relationship between continuous variables, and the Chi-square (χ²) test was used to determine associations between categorical variables. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 29.95 years. Almost 95% of patients (94.8%) had heard of breast cancer, although. 33.9% did not think it was curable. Most (84.3%) patients recognized a breast mass as a symptom of breast cancer. Only 67.8% had ever performed a breast self-examination, and 22.6% knew when to do so appropriately. Almost 22% (21.7%) of the patients did not think that breast self-examination was useful. The association between marital status and education level and the practice of breast self-examination was significant(p<0.001) Conclusion: Awareness of breast cancer was relatively high, but knowledge about breast self-examination was low. There was also a significant association between marital status and education level and the practice of breast self-examination. Greater enlightenment about the benefits of breast self-examination is needed. This is especially important in our environment, where health care awareness is low. This can be done by health care workers, including community workers, through mass media and home visits as well as during antenatal visits.