Beliefs and behaviour of Malaysia undergraduate female students in a public university toward breast self-examination practice
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second principal cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide, including Malaysia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 262 female undergraduate students in University Putra Malaysia using a validated questionnaire which...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention
2013
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29678/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29678/1/Beliefs%20and%20behaviour%20of%20Malaysia%20undergraduate%20female%20students%20in%20a%20public%20university%20toward%20breast%20self.pdf |
| Summary: | BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second principal cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide, including Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 262 female undergraduate students in University Putra Malaysia using a validated questionnaire which was developed for this study.
RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 22∓2.3 years. Most of them were single (83.1%), Malay (42.3%) and 20.7% reported having a family history of breast cancer. Eighty-seven (36.7%) claimed they had practiced BSE. Motivation and self-efficacy of the respondents who performed BSE were significantly higher compared with women who did not (p<0.05).There was no association between BSE practice and demographic details (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that women who perceived greater motivation (OR=1.089, 95%CI: 1.016-1.168) and had higher confidence of BSE (OR=1.076, 95%CI: 1.028-1.126) were more likely to perform the screening.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that Malaysian young female's perception regarding breast cancer and the practice of BSE is low. Targeted education should be implemented to improve early detection of breast cancer. |
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