Level of Awareness and Practices of Women Regarding Breast Cancer in Chhattisgarh, India: An Institution Based Survey

Objective: To study the knowledge, attitude and practices of breast cancer among the women of Chhattisgarh for identifying their knowledge gaps about breast cancer symptoms, risk factor and screening methods. Methods: (i) Design: Cross sectional descriptive study. (ii) Setting: Women registered outdoor clinics of surgery department of a Medical College and Hospital, from Sep 2016 to March 2017. (iii) Sample Size: Participants number was 500. (iv) Participants: Women > 18 yrs except those suffering from breast cancer. (iv) Main outcome variables: level of breast cancer knowledge, source of knowledge and correlation of knowledge with participant demography. Conclusion: There were wide knowledge gap for breast cancer symptoms, risk factor and screening methods in women. The lack of knowledge about symptoms, risk factor and screening methods cause delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Clinical breast examination by health care personnel (doctors, nurses, multipurpose health worker) in women > 35 yrs; and training for breast self-examination can be introduced as a mandatory policy for women attending out door clinics.