Background:
Breast cancer is increasingly becoming a disturbing health problem and a growing cause of mortality especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, it is the leading cause of death among women and the most common cause of hospital admissions. Ghanaian women are disproportionately diagnosed at earlier age of 40-49 years with high-grade tumors that are more aggressive than White women in America.
Although there is plausible evidence that early detection and prompt diagnosis improve survival; for reasons that are still unclear, sixty percent of Ghanaian women delay for at least 10 months before diagnosis. Although biological differences are noted as a major risk factor, fear of the disease and treatment, lack of awareness, beliefs, and social stigma have been identified as important determinants of delayed presentation in Ghana. To promote early breast cancer presentation, Breast Care International (BCI) has implemented an educational model to create awareness of the disease. However, limited evidence exists that breast cancer awareness programs are achieving their desired aim of encouraging early diagnosis.
Aim:
To determine how a short community-based breast health educational program might influence cultural beliefs, attitudes, and practices of breast cancer among women towards early detection.
Methods:
Study uses Pretest Posttest non-equivalent control to analyze the differences in knowledge, attitudes, and practices about breast cancer among women who received an educational program provided by BCI and women who did not.
Results:
A total of 310 in the experimental group and 325 in the control group recruited from 6 communities of similar sizes in diverse geographies were interviewed. Participants were female age between 18 and 78 years with a mean age of 40 and standard deviation of 14. No significant difference between any of the socio-demographic characteristics between the two groups.
Conclusions: Make positive contribution for improving breast cancer outcome.