Level of awareness regarding breast cancer and its screening amongst Indian teachers.

A total of 441 women teachers from 8 of the schools located in Delhi, India participated in this cross-sectional study, conducted from July 2007 to February 2008. The mean age was 37.2 years. Some 92.7% of the teachers were aware of at least one sign or symptom of the disease and 63.0% knew at least one high risk factor. However, only 36.1% had heard of the term breast self-examination. Only 13.4% knew the correct frequency of once a month, only 7.3% the correct position and only 1.36% participants the correct time. This dismal awareness level reflects the fact that none had ever practiced breast self-examination. Similarly, very few attended regular clinical breast examination (CBE) or had undergone a mammogram. Only 11.8% were aware of the normal look of the breast and 5.4% of the normal feel. There is clearly a need to increase the level of awareness regarding breast cancer and its screening amongst teachers in India.