Knowledge and Practice of Breast Self-Examination Among Young Women in Tertiary Education in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Correlation of Demographic Characteristics and the Practice of BSE Based on Univariate Analysis (n=358)

Variables	Category	BSE Practice N(%)		P-value
		Practiced	Not Practiced
Age (continuous)	Mean (SD)	20.84 [2]		<0.01
Age (Categorical)	≤24	35(74.5)	228(73.3)
	>24	12(25.5)	83(26.7)
Marital status	Single	43(91.5)	262(84.2)	0.33
	Married	3(6.4)	30(9.6)
	Others^a	1(2.1)	19(6.1)
Religion	Orthodox Christian	27(57.4)	213(68.5)	0.4
	Muslim	3(6.4)	23(7.4)
	Protestant	13(27.7)	57(18.3)
	Others^b	4(8.5)	18(5.8)
Place of grew up	Urban	42(89.4)	236(75.9)	0.025
	Rural	5(10.6)	75(24.1)
Father education	Below secondary school^c	15(31.9)	115(37.0)	0.31
	Secondary school and above^d	32(68.1)	196(63.0)
Mother education	Below secondary school	22(46.8)	158(50.8)	0.36
	Secondary school and above	25(53.2)	153(49.2)
Study year	1st year	5(10.6)	93(29.9)	0.013
	2nd year	12(25.5)	77(24.8)
	3rd year	13(27.7)	76(24.4)
	4th year	17(36.2)	65(20.9)

Notes:^aOthers – Divorced and widowed. ^bOthers – Catholic, the seventh day, and traditional faiths. ^cBelow secondary school – Educational status for those lacking formal education and attended from grades one to eight. ^dSecondary school and above – Educational status of participants who attended at least grade nine.

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Description of Time and Intention of Performing BSE

Explanatory Variables		Number	Percentage
How often do you practice breast self-examination?	Once in a week	22	26.2
	Once in a month	25	29.8
	Once in a 3 month	9	10.7
	Once in a 6 month	8	9.5
	Once in a year	5	6.0
	Other^a	15	17.8
Why do you perform breast self-examination?	For early detection and treatment	39	46.4
	Due to recommended by a health provider	14	16.7
	Due to fear of developing breast cancer	10	15.5
	Due to fear of family history	10	11.9
	Due to a previous breast problem	8	9.5
When did you start breast self-examination?	Before 25 years of age	76	90.5
	25 to 30 years of age	7	8.3
	31 to 35 years of age	1	1.2
When do you perform breast self-examination?	When it comes to my mind	32	38.1
	Within two to three days after a session of menstruation	30	35.7
	At any time during the month	13	15.5
	A few days before menses and the day when I began hormone replacement therapy.	3	4.7

Notes:^aOthers – The participants practiced the BSE at the frequency of more than a year.

Figure 1 The reason why the females did not practice BSE.

Table 3 Predictors of Knowledge of BSE Based on Adjusted Multiple Linear Regression Analysis Model (n=358)

Independent Variables	Category	Simple Linear Regression		Multiple Linear Regression
		β (95% CI)^c	P-value	β (95% CI)	P-value
Sources of information	Health worker	2.51(1.6–3.5)	<0.01	0.19 (0.62–2.9)	<0.01
	Friends	2.5(1.25–3.8)	<0.01	0.15 (0.53–3.1)	<0.01
	Media^a	1.02(0.33–1.8)	0.01	0.06 (−0.62–1.6)	0.4
Place of grew up	Rural	−0.9(−1.8–0.02)	0.05	−0.04 (−1.4–0.62)	0.46
Know someone with breast cancer	Yes	1.3(0.32–2.2)	<0.01	0.09 (−0.13–1.7)	0.09
Heard about BSE	Yes	1.8 (1.04–2.5)	<0.01	0.02 (−1.03–1.35)	0.79
Father education	Secondary school and above^b	0.7 (−0.07–1.5)	0.074	0.06 (−0.4–1.3)	0.3
Year of study	Fourth-year	1.63 (0.76–2.5)	<0.01	0.14 (0.3–2.02)	<0.01

Notes:^aMedia: Television and radios. ^bSecondary school and above: Educational status of participants who attended at least grade nine. ^cβ (95% CI): Odds ratio at 95% confidence interval.

Table 4 Predictors of the Practice of BSE Based on Adjusted Multivariate Binary Logistic Regression Analysis Model (n=358)

Variables	Practice BSE N (%)		ORCRUDE (95% CI)	ORADJUSTED (95% CI)
	Yes	No
Age [Mean (SD)]	20.84 [2]		1.32(1.13–1.55)	1.4(1.1–1.8)
Place of grew up
Urban	42	236	0.38(0.14–0.98)	0.32(0.09–1.1)
Rural	5	75	1	1
Knowledge of BSE [Mean (SD)]	10.8 []		1.3(1.23–1.45)	1.34(1.1–1.64)
Family history of breast cancer
Yes	8	13	0.21(0.08–0.55)	0.32(0.1–1.04)
No	39	298	1	1
Friends as an information source
Yes	9	23	3.0 (1.3–6.9)	1.14 (0.35–3.72)
No	29	127	1	1
Healthcare provider as an information source
Yes	21	40	5.5(2.82–10.63)	1.87(0.7–4.82)
No	26	271	1	1
Year of study
1st year	5	93	2.1 (0.07–5.9)	1.73 (0.47–6.3)
2nd year	12	77	0.6 (0.27–1.34)	0.94 (0.25–3.6)
3rd year	13	76	0.64 (0.3–1.45)	0.5 (0.11–2.31)
4th year	17	65	1	1
Knew someone with breast cancer
Yes	15	52	0.43(0.22–0.85)	0.65(0.28–1.55)
No	32	259	1	1

Note: Refers to P-value <0.05.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; ORCRUDE (95% CI), crude odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval; ORADJUSTED (95% CI), adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval.