The Effect of Breast Self-Examination and Lifestyle Modification on Breast Cancer Prevention among Female University Students

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of the breast cancer prevention intervention on knowledge, attitude, and practice through breast self-examination and lifestyle modification among female university students. In this study, the intervention used was based on Health Belief Model and Stimulus Response Theory and used the convenience sampling technique to select 36 participants. The intervention consisted of 6 sessions which were conducted from November 22, 2012, to January 8, 2013. The pretest and posttest designs were used to evaluate the impact of the intervention. The study has shown that the program had resulted in a significant improvement in the participants' knowledge, attitude and practice toward breast self-examination and lifestyle modification. All of the participants learned how to do breast self-examination and were able to do return demonstration correctly to the invited physician. The results also showed that 92% of the participants had performed BSE after the intervention. Aside from being able to do BSE, the participants' knowledge and attitude on how diet and exercise prevent breast cancer also increased.