Influence of age and education on breast cancer awareness and knowledge among women in South Western Nigeria.

The rising incidence of breast cancer (BC) in sub-Saharan Africa is aggravated by poor prognosis. Health education and several screening methods, including breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast-examination (CBE) and mammography, have been advanced to achieve early detection and reduction in its mortality rate. This study evaluated the level of awareness and knowledge of BC and BSE amongst female students and staff of six educational institutions in Ota, Southwest Nigeria. The participants, consisting of 917 (80.79%) students and 218 (19.21%) staff, aged between 13 and 60 years, were selected using a stratified random sampling technique and categorized into age groups [adolescents (13-19 years), young adults (21-40 years) and middle-aged adults (41-60 years)] and levels of education. Data was collected via questionnaires and analysed using Epi-info software and SPSS version 20. Frequencies, percentages, regression and correlation co-efficient were calculated and used to determine the levels of association between age groups and levels of education. Mean age of the participants was 21 ± 1.7 years; over 75% were adolescents. BC and BSE awareness was 94.80% and 65.11% respectively, with 7 (0.62%) having BC. The major sources of BC and BSE information were television, health workers and internet. The average BC knowledge score of the participants was 4.06 (40.57%); it was highest among young adults, 4.31 (43.07%), and least among the adolescents, 3.88 (38.78%). The same trend was observed for BSE practice among the age groups. There was a direct relationship between BC knowledge and levels of education; the postgraduates had the highest BC knowledge score of 4.49 (44.89%) while the secondary students had the least score of 3.82 (38.12%). Similar trend was observed for BSE practice and the levels of education. Paucity of BSE knowledge largely accounted for the low BSE practice among the adolescents and secondary students. The huge gap in BC knowledge and BSE practice underscores the need for a structured health education and screening programmes in Nigerian schools to enhance prevention and early detection of BC and other ailments. BSE is free, easy to perform, and able to detect BC at earlier stage. The practice should be encouraged alongside mammography to reduce the burden and mortality rate of BC in Nigeria.