Breast Self-examination Knowledge and Practiceamong Kuwaiti Women

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer among women livingin both developed and developing countries and one of the most common causesof death among women in developing countries. Most cases of BC are diagnosedat late stages of the disease due to insufficient knowledge about breast selfexamination(BSE) and clinical breast examination (CBE). The study objectiveis to report Kuwaiti women’s practice, knowledge, and etiological reasons thatdiscourage women from performing BSEs. A questionnaire was distributedamong 716 women of ages between 15 and 62 years old with two scales, (1)Knowledge of BSE performance and (2) Reasons for not practicing BSE, aswell as socio-demographic questions. The findings show that Kuwaiti women’sreasons for not practicing BSE were related to the fact that the majority (78.1%)did not know about the frequency of performing BSE, nor how to perform it. Theparticipants (70.7%) also claimed that they did not know the right time to performBSE. There was a significant relationship between the participants’ ethnic roots,BC frequency among them, family history of BC, and family history of cancer andthe participants’ knowledge about performing BSE (P 0.05). Also, there was asignificant relationship between participants’ BSE awareness and age, educationallevel, marital status, and family history of BC (P 0.01).