Breast Self-Examination: Knowledge and Practice amongNurses in United Arab Emirates

This study was conducted to explore the knowledge and practice of nurses regarding breast self-examination(BSE) in the United Arab Emirates. Nurses working in different hospitals constituted the study population.A total of 154 nurses who had come to participate in the breast cancer awareness week programme were theparticipants. Approval of the Gulf Medical University ethics committee was obtained. A self-administered, pretested,structured, close ended questionnaire was used for data collection. Statistical analysis was performedusing PASW 17. Age of the participants in this study ranged from 20 to 59 years, with a mean age of 24.1 years.96.1% of the participants were aware of the ideal age to start BSE, while 87.7% respondents knew that womenwith regular menstruation should perform BSE monthly on a particular day, preferably on the fifth or seventhday after menstruation. With regard to BSE technique, 68.8% knew that both inspection and palpation werethe ideal methods to detect any change in the breast. A high proportion, 84.4% of the respondents, reportedperforming BSE. Among those married, 87.0% and among single 78.3% were practicing BSE. The results pointout that the nurses have a satisfactory knowledge regarding BSE and this is shown in their practice of BSE.Emphasis should be laid on BSE in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, especially for nurses, as they aremostly involved in patient care and education.