Omoregbe Isaac Newton, Jonathan Mayen Akuabata, Mbaka Uchechi Harriet, Odike Keren Ifeoma

Citation: Omoregbe Isaac Newton, Jonathan Mayen Akuabata, Mbaka Uchechi Harriet, and Odike Keren Ifeoma (2025) Awareness of breast self-examination among undergraduate students in a Nigerian university: implications for policy action in curbing the increasing incidence of breast cancers in Nigeria.
Frontline Professionals Journal, 2(1), 89–105.
Citation: Omoregbe Isaac Newton, Jonathan Mayen Akuabata, Mbaka Uchechi Harriet, and Odike Keren Ifeoma (2025) Awareness of breast self-examination among undergraduate students in a Nigerian university: implications for policy action in curbing the increasing incidence of breast cancers in Nigeria. Frontline Professionals Journal, 2(1), 89–105.
ABSTRACT
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world and among Nigerian women. It contributed about 685,000 deaths globally in 2020. Breast self-examination (BSE) is considered one of the main screening methods in detecting earlier stages of breast cancer. It is a useful technique, cheap, and easy method for early diagnosis of breast cancer. In developing countries like Nigeria, where the awareness regarding breast cancer and breast self-examination is poor, breast cancers are diagnosed at late stages, resulting in a poor prognosis of the disease. Therefore, this research was intended to measure the knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female medical students.
Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 112 respondents using a stratified sampling technique. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The questions covered knowledge, practice, and barriers to breast self-examination. The chi-square test was used to test for the association; the level of significance was set as P < 0.05
Results: The mean age (SD) of respondents was 19.3±1.4 years. Almost half of the respondents. While 49.1% of respondents demonstrated good knowledge of BSE, 50.9% had fair to poor understanding, indicating a need for improved awareness initiatives. 97.3% had heard of breast self-examination, mostly from the media (36.1%) and health workers (31.3%). About 70% of the students practiced breast self-examination; 47.4% had good practice; 27.7% had moderate practice; and 24.9% had poor practice. The
majority of the respondents, 71.4%, who practice breast self-examination started before the age of 20. However, only 50.9% had been trained in breast self-examination, primarily by health workers (29.5%). Significant associations were found between knowledge and practice of breast self-examination with a p-value = 0.018.
Conclusion: The study reveals a high awareness of breast self-examination (BSE) among undergraduate students, with notable knowledge gaps in proper technique and practice consistency. While the internet serves as a primary information source, the findings underscore the need for structured, evidence-based educational interventions to enhance understanding and adherence to BSE recommendations. These results highlight the importance of integrating breast cancer awareness programs into academic and policy frameworks to address rising breast cancer incidences in Nigeria.
Keywords: Breast cancers, Breast self-examination, Knowledge, and Practice