Breast Self Examination- A Necessary Preventive Tool: Knowledge and Practice among Students of College of Education Gindiri, Plateau State

Background: Breast cancer a non-communicable disease is a fast growing epidemic in most part of the world more importantly in the developing countries like Nigeria. Study objective was to determine the knowledge and practice of Breast Self Examination (BSE), a necessary preventive tool, among students of the College of Education, Gindiri, Plateau State. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study of female students. A semi structured self administered questionnaire was used to collect relevant data. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit 115 students. Microsoft word Excel was used for data entry and cleaning while SPSS version 19.0 statistical soft ware was used for data analysis for both the qualitative and quantitative data generated. Results: Students aged 18 to 38 years (mean age of 23.86±3.59 years). Knowledge on BSE was poor (79.1%) with only (20.9%) with a good knowledge on what BSE meant. Few students 18 (15.7%) had practiced BSE once or in the last 6 months to one year. Thirty-nine (33.9%) of the students had at least one breast cancer related risk factors. A non- statistically significant (p=0.116) association was established between presence of the associated breast cancer risk factors and the practice of BSE. Conclusion: Poor level of knowledge and practice of BSE was established among the students. No statistically significant association was established between students that had any or all of the associated breast cancer risk factors and the practice of BSE.