Breast Cancer Awareness and Uptake of Breast Cancer Screening Services Among Undergraduate Female Students in the Oldest University of Tanzania: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide. Mortality from breast cancer can be reduced through early detection and prevention. Despite the availability of breast cancer screening methods, the uptake of screening services remains very low, especially in low-resource countries like Tanzania. This low uptake of screening services may be attributed to a lack of awareness regarding the importance of early detection of the disease. Objectives: This study was set to determine breast cancer awareness and the uptake of breast cancer screening services among undergraduate female students in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Design: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study using the quantitative approach. Methods: The sample size calculated for this study was 434 undergraduate female students. The tool used for data collection was self-administered questionnaires, with data collection taking place in July 2022. Data were analyzed using Stata Version 15 and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: We found that most of the participants (92.38%) had heard about breast cancer, and only 39% of the participants were able to correctly identify the risk factors for breast cancer. Participants who had ever used breast cancer screening services by at least 1 method were 37 (9.23%), and the most common screening method practiced by the study participants was breast self-examination (48.65%). Conclusions: Most of the participants were not aware of the screening methods for early detection of breast cancer. In addition, they lacked knowledge of some of the risk factors as evidenced by the low uptake of breast cancer screening services among the study participants. This calls for an awareness-raising campaign on the importance of breast cancer screening.