Self-Examination for Breast and Testicular Cancers: A Community-based Intervention Study

The prevalence of cancers is growing rapidly in all parts of the word and Pakistan is no exception. Preventionis the best option to tackle this rising epidemic and screening, early detection and health awareness programsare cornerstones in this regard. A community-based interventional study was therefore her conducted to assessthe effect of health education intervention about knowledge and practice of self-breast examination (SBE) amongwomen and self-testicular examination (STE) among men. A total of 127 (70 females and 57 males) adults (≥18years) from an urban community of Karachi, Pakistan were included after giving informed consent. Interventionswere in the local language (Urdu) and included educational and awareness sessions by symposia, lectures andhand-on practice demonstrations about SBE and STE. Informative leaflets and brochure were also employed .Pre-intervention assessment revealed that 57% women had knowledge of SBE and 4% men knew about STEand this proportion increased significantly (p<0.001) after intervention both in women and in men by 83% and72%, respectively. Similarly, significant post-intervention improvements were reported for SBE and STE practices(p<0.001). Our results suggest that educational interventions at the community level increase the knowledgeand practices of women and men for the SBE and STE.