Paper: Self-Examination for Breast and Testicular Cancers: Results of a Community-Based Intervention Study (19th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice)

Thursday, 10 July 2008: 11:10 AM

Khairunnisa Shallwani , Outpatient nursing department, Aga Khan University hospital, Karachi, Pakistan

Rozina Shehzad , Obstetrics and gyneacology ward, Aga Khan University hospital, Karachi, Pakistan

Tazeen Saeed , Faculty masters program, Aga Khan University School of Nursing, Karachi, Pakistan

Ali Khuwaja , Family medicine, Community health sciences, Aga Khan University hospital, Karachi, Pakistan

Learning Objective 1: comprehence the importance of self breast and self testicular examination.

Learning Objective 2: analyze the effectiveness of the interventions given during the project to the community.

Prevalence of cancers are growing rapidly in all parts of the word with no exception of Pakistan. Prevention is the better option to tackle this rising epidemic. Screening, early detection and health awareness programs are the cornerstones in this regards. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in woman while testicular cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer in men 15 to 35 years of age. If detected and treated in its early stages, these caners are curable to a large extent. An interventional study was conducted from November, 2004 to January, 2005 to assess the impact of health awareness intervention about knowledge and practice of self-breast examination (SBE) and self-testicular examination (STE). In all, 127 (70 females and 57 males) adults (≥18 years) in an urban community of Karachi, Pakistan were included after taking consent to participate in this study. Pre-intervention assessment revealed that 57% women had knowledge of SBE while in post-intervention it has rose to 83% (5% significance level of Fisher's Exact Test with P value: 0.000). Prior to the intervention, only 17% women were practicing SBE, which rose to 72% post-intervention (5% significance level of Fisher's Exact Test with P value: 0.000) .. In men, the STE knowledge rose from 4% pre-intervention to 72% (5% significance level of Fisher's Exact Test with P value: 0.000) . post-intervention and similarly practices improved from 2% to 26% (5% significance level of Fisher's Exact Test with P value: 0.000). Our results suggest that interventions at community level increases the knowledge and practice of women and men of the community for the early identification of the breast and testicular cancers.

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