COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF AWARENESS AND PRACTICE OF BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION AMONG MEDICAL AND NON-MEDICAL FEMALE STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES IN HAYATABAD, PESHAWAR
Keywords:
breast self-examination; breast cancer awareness; female university students; medical students; health educationAbstract
Background: Breast self-examination (BSE) is a simple breast-awareness practice that may encourage early recognition and reporting of breast changes. University students are an important group for breast-health education, but exposure to health information may differ between medical and non-medical disciplines. This study compared BSE awareness, knowledge, attitudes, confidence, training, and practice among female students from the two academic streams in Hayatabad, Peshawar.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional survey was conducted over six months among 366 female undergraduates from Iqra National University and CECOS University. The sample included 183 medical and 183 non-medical students aged 18-30 years, recruited by convenience sampling. A structured self-administered questionnaire collected demographic and BSE-related information. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 22 using descriptive statistics and Pearson chi-square tests.
Results: Overall, 290 students (79.2%) had heard of BSE; 237 (64.8%) knew the correct age to begin, 223 (60.9%) knew the correct timing, and 221 (60.4%) reported knowing the correct technique. Most considered BSE important for early detection (83.6%), whereas 232 (63.4%) felt confident performing it. Only 187 (51.1%) had ever performed BSE and 181 (49.5%) had received formal training. Embarrassment (41.8%) and lack of knowledge (34.4%) were the leading barriers. Academic stream was associated with every assessed BSE variable (p <= 0.001), with the direction of differences favoring medical students.
Conclusion: Awareness was relatively high, but practice and formal training were substantially lower. Medical students had stronger BSE-related outcomes than non-medical students. University programs should move beyond general awareness by providing practical demonstrations, confidence-building instruction, and targeted education for non-medical students.
