A Cross Sectional Study of the Knowledge and Practice of Self-Breast Examination among Market Women at the Makola Shopping Mall, Accra, Ghana

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. With an estimated incidence of 1,676,633 with 521,817 deaths in the year 2012, the figure is expected to hit the 82.5 millionth mark by 2015. Breast cancer screening is reported to be extremely low in most low-middle income countries like Ghana. This study was to determine the knowledge and practices of self-breast examination among market women at Makola Shopping Mall in Accra, Ghana. Methods: The study was conducted at the Makola Shopping Mall in Accra among women above the age of 20 years who owned a store and sell at the mall. Data were collected using mixed method involving in-depth interviews and questionnaire survey. Random samples of 170 participants were selected from a population of 400 for the quantitative survey. A total of eight in-depth interviews were conducted to generate qualitative data to complement the survey data. Results: Majority (60%) of the respondents were between the ages of 20 - 40 years. There’s a high literacy rate among the participants. Though awareness of self-breast examination was very high (93%), only 27% practiced self-breast examination in line with the recommended one week period after menses due to lack of knowledge of the basic skills to do self-breast examination. Conclusion: In view of the lack of knowledge resulting in non-performance of self-breast examination, continuous education on breast cancer screening should be given to the women to enable them acquire the skills of performing self-breast examination to promote early detection of the disease.