Biography
Biography: Maha Alsejari
Abstract
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer among women living in both developed and developing countries and one of the most common causes of death among women in developing countries (WHO, 2007). The study objective is to report Kuwaiti women’s practice, perception, and etiological reasons that discourage women from performing BSEs. A questionnaire was distributed among 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, as well as socio-demographic questions. The findings show that Kuwaiti women’s reasons 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. The participants (70.7%) also claimed that they did not know the right time to perform BSE. There was a significant relationship between the participants’ education levels, ethnic roots, BC frequency among them, and family history of cancer and the participants’ knowledge about BSE (P < 0.05). Also, significant relationship between participants’ BSE awareness and age, marital status, and family history of breast cancer (P < 0.01). And there was no significant relationship between participants’ religious sect, BSE performance, belief in detecting BC by BSE practice, and belief in the possibility of recovering from BC, and knowledge about BSE.
Keywords: Brest self-examination, Breast cancer, Kuwaiti women, medical anthropology, awareness.