Authors : A. Onasoga Olayinka, A. Afolayan Joel and G. Oke Feyisayo
Abstract: Breast cancer is the leading cause of malignancy in women in Nigeria and has taken over cancer of the cervix to become the leading cause of malignancy. Good knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer will help to reduce women presenting with advanced stages when little or no benefit can derived from any form of treatment. This study aimed at assessing the knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer among female undergraduate in a selected private tertiary institution in Edo State Nigeria. A multistage sampling was used to select 100 respondents. A self developed questionnaire was used to obtain data from respondents and this was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with level of significance set at 5%. The results revealed that majority (58.5%) of the respondents have an average knowledge with wrong belief 57 (60.6%) about breast cancer. There was no significant association between age and level of knowledge with (χ2 = 7.589, p = 0.108>0.05). However, there was significant association between level of knowledge and level of belief of respondents about breast cancer (χ2 = 10.750, p = 0.030, p<0.05). There is need to introduce breast cancer awareness and education in tertiary institution to increase the level of knowledge and correct negative beliefs about breast cancer among students, especially female students since they are more susceptible.
A. Onasoga Olayinka, A. Afolayan Joel and G. Oke Feyisayo, 2012. Knowledge and Beliefs about Breast Cancer among Female Undergraduate in a Selected Private Tertiary Institution in Edo State Nigeria. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 7: 151-156.