Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy (Apr 2023)
Psychosocial Problems of Rural Indian Women Practising Breast Self-Examination – a Community-Based Study from Southern India
Abstract
Pabithadevi Balaiah Mehanathan,1 Alex Arthur Edwards Dennison,1 Amudha Vikramathithan Panchapooranam,2 Sunitha Kandasamy,3 Padmavathi Subbiah,4 Lakshmikandhan Velappan,4 Shantaraman Kalyanaraman5 1General Surgery, Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India; 2Microbiology, Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India; 3Community Medicine, Thoothukudi Medical College, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India; 4MRHRU, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India; 5Pathology, Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, IndiaCorrespondence: Shantaraman Kalyanaraman, Tirunelveli Medical College, 63, Ittamozhi Road, Tisaiyanvilai, Tirunelveli, 627657, India, Tel +91 9443133898, Email [email protected]: Globally, breast cancer affects 2.5 million people annually. Younger women with advanced-stage cancers had a lower survival rate, but early detection enhanced survival chances by 27 to 47%. Breast self-examination (BSE) has led to early detection and higher rates of benign biopsies. Studies evaluating the psychosocial impact of BSE are few in India which has been attempted in the present study.Methods: The community-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among rural women aged 30 years and above, who have done BSE at least once without present or prior breast abnormalities in the field practice area of Model Rural Health Research Unit, Tirunelveli. The research questionnaire was developed based on the findings of focus group discussion (FGD) on the same objective in the study area.Results: Among 379 participants, 146 (38.5%) felt confident in their BSE knowledge, 28.2% (n=107) and 5.5% (n=21) of the respondents experienced anxiety and depression while practising BSE, respectively. There is a significant difference between the mean anxiety levels (p-value=0.002) and depression (p-value=0.013) of individuals who have detected anomalies during BSE and those who have not.Conclusion: Regular counselling has to improve knowledge about BSE, like the timing and method of examination, and decreases the anxiety and depression level.Keywords: breast cancer, self-examination, screening, Hamilton scales, rural women
