Knowledge and practice of breast self-examination

Background. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Poland. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the world. In our country too often advanced cancerous lesions are detected. This is caused by insufficient knowledge of patients on early signs of malignancy. Thanks to the implementation of educational programs, there is a slow growth of consciousness and knowledge of oncology among the Poles. Objectives. The aim of work was to assess the practical and theoretical knowledge of patients on breast self-examination, symptoms and determining the relationship of knowledge and age and education. Material and methods. A survey questionnaire on a group of 90 randomly selected women was conducted. 50% of women were from south of Poland (Podhale) - Group I, and 50% were from Lower Silesia - Group II. Results. In both treated groups mostly women who perform breast self-examination, do so irregularly. Regular, monthly examination was declared by 24% of women in Group II and only 4% in Group I. In response to a question about the examination of lymph nodes, "axillary nodes" were chosen by the 64% of respondents in Group I and 62% in Group II. In all analyzed questions age and level of education of respondents did not have a significant impact on the choice of answers. Conclusions. Most of the surveyed women have sufficient knowledge on breast self-examination, but this is not reflected in practice. Women from Lower Silesia are characterized by greater awareness of health prevention of breast cancer than women of Podhale.