Effectiveness Of a Planned Teaching Programme On Knowledge Attitude and Practices Regarding Breast Cancer Among Adult Women In The Rural Field Practice Area Of a Tertiary Care Centre In Kozhikode District: A Pre Post Intervention Study

Breast cancer is the  most common cancer among females in the world and in India .According to the Globocan 2022 report, there were  estimated 2.26 million and 192,020 new cases globally and  in India respectively. In Kerala, though the health indices are far advanced in comparison to other states in India ,the age adjusted cancer incidence among females is high. Women tend to ignore the minor symptoms and do not show up at the hospital until it is unbearable, owing to their household responsibilities. Low level of health literacy as well as poor health seeking behavior are some of the most important factors for this ignorance. Other reasons of ignorance are lack of self confidence in their ability to perform the breast self examination correctly, fear of possible discovery of a lump and embarrassment associated with manipulation of the breast. There are only a handful studies done among Kerala’s women population on their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding breast cancer and its prevention. No such educational intervention studies have been done in Kozhikode district on this topic. This study intends to assess their baseline knowledge, attitude and practices regarding breast cancer, as well as gauge the same after conducting a planned education session for them. Since knowledge is the best pill and best vaccine ,this study will test the effectiveness of our planned health education session in adult women, so that it can be used in the future for massive health literacy drives among them.