Knowledge, practices and perfection of meddle-aged women about breast self-examination in aswan, Egypt

Breast cancer is a major killer disease among women and an overwhelming number of women have fallen victim to this deadly disease worldwide as well as in Egypt. Thus, early detection of breast cancer is crucial to decreasing the morbidity and mortality of breast cancer. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to understand the perceptions of Egyptian middle aged women about breast self-examination (BSE). In addition the study examined the nature of barriers in practicing BSE, The study was conducted in two rural areas in Aswan, Egypt, using the purposive sampling technique. The study sample was twelve (12) middle aged women who met the inclusion criteria. Data was collected through semi-structured face to face interviews using an interview guide and an audiotape recorder. The interview was in the Arabic language. The qualitative content analysis (Unrau & Coleman, 1997) using the manual method, was utilized as the analytical method to identify emerging categories and themes. The identified themes and sub categories have been classified under three main domains: cognitive, psycho-motor, and affective domains. The overall findings revealed that middle-aged women living in the rural areas in Upper Egypt lack knowledge about breast cancer and breast self examination. The majority of women believe that physician should perform BSE. In addition 33% women believe that breast feeding and multiple pregnancies increase the risk of breast cancer. More than 50o/o indicated that there is no need to practice BSE since only God can protect them from such deadly disease, thus the practice of BSE is very low, and in some cases non- existent among women in Upper Egypt\u27s rural areas. This study has implications for nursing, policy makers and other stake holders. Hence, it is recommended that accurate knowledge, support and service about breast cancer and BSE be provided in the region, to improve the practice of BSE as well as to decrease the mortality rate of breast cancer in Egypt