Women’s Knowledge and Practice Towards Breast Cancer in Nagaland, Northeast India

Abstract

With the rising incidence of breast cancer, it is imperative to assess awareness of breast cancer in various groups. Being the most frequently occurring life-threatening malignancy and the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality, its upsurge calls for concern and awareness of factors associated with it. A cross-sectional design was carried out in Kohima and Dimapur districts of Nagaland. Purposive and Convenience sampling methods were adopted to select 250 women in the age group of 20 years and above. Specially prepared structured questionnaire was administered through interviews. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS software (16.0). Test of associations applied chi-square statistical tool. P ( p value) less than or equal to .05 was considered a significant association. A little more than half (58%) were aware that a painless lump in the breast is a risk to breast cancer, while 42% were not aware about any signs and symptoms. Only 3.2% reported practicing Breast Self-Examination, however, not on regular basis. Education of a person shows a significant association with breast cancer knowledge from the present study. The result shows a considerable number of participants remaining oblivious of breast cancer issues and those who have knowledge are yet to render their knowledge and attitudes into practice.