Psychosocial determinants of breast self-examination.

To explore the psychosocial determinants of breast self-examination (BSE) among women, we studied a stratified random sample of 264 women students, faculty, and staff in a university community. The dependent variable of the study was self-reported frequency of BSE, and predictors included measures of general health predispositions, variables of the Health Belief Model, the impact of a woman's social network, a set of secondary non-health-related barriers and benefits, and the woman's evaluation of her personal health care system. Analysis of the data showed strong relationships between most of the predictor variables and BSE. Regression analysis showed that variables measuring a woman's recent experience in the health care system were stronger predictors of BSE practice than intrapersonal "health belief" variables. However, the independent variables included in the regression accounted for almost 35 percent of the total variance in BSE practice.