A study to assess the knowledge and practice regarding breast cancer and its prevention among college girls studying in selected college at Puducherry

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst women in India. Breast cancer occurs when some breast cells begin to grow abnormally. These cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells and continue to gather, forming a lump or mass. The cells may spread (metastasize) to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. Objectives: 1. To assess the level of knowledge on breast cancer among college girl. 2. To assess the level of practice on prevention of breast cancer and breast self examination among college girls. 3 To correlate the knowledge and practice on breast cancer and its prevention among college girls. 4. To associate level of knowledge on breast cancer with selected demographic variable of college girls. 5. To associate practice on prevention of breast cancer with selected demographic variable of college girls. Methodology: A cross sectional design was used to conduct the study and 50 nursing college girls have been selected by using simple random sampling technique. The study was conducted in Sabari College of Nursing, Kirumampakkam, Puducherry. The structured knowledge questionnaire and practice questionnaire was used to collect the data to assess the knowledge about breast cancer and practice regarding breast self examination. The content validity was done by experts in nursing and research. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (chi square). Result: The study result has been proved that majority (82%) of college girls had moderate knowledge about breast cancer. But none of the participants had adequate knowledge about it. 68% of college girls had moderate practice of self breast examination. Our research had revealed that only marital status and religion had significant association with levels of knowledge. Conclusion: Early detection for breast cancer plays the leading role in reducing mortality rates and improving the patient’s prognosis. The recommended screening method for early detection of this fatal disease is mammography, clinical breast examination and breast self examination.It is recommended that each and every woman above 20years of age should perform self breast examination at least once in a month