ASSESSING EFFECTIVENESS OF A VIDEO BASED INTERVENTION ADMINISTERED ACROSS VIRTUAL PLATFORM ON THE EXISTING KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS & BREAST SELF EXAMINATION AMONG LITERATE WOMEN IN METROPOLITAN CITY OF DELHI:A QUASIEXPERIMENTAL COMMUNITY BASED INTERVENTIONAL STUDY

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women, both across the world and in India. Increasing prevalence along with advanced stage at presentation remain the key areas of concern with respect to this disease in our country. A programmatic strategy to decreasing the cancer burden in a country usually involves two key approaches, “screening†and “clinical down-staging (early diagnosis)â€. A combination of the two, rather than just one of them, is aspired for by the contemporary health care system.

Screening for breast cancer usually employs three key modalities: mammography, breast self-examination and clinical breast examination. While screening with mammography is in place in developed countries like the US, these may not be cost effective for a large population base in a developing country with resource constraints like ours. In such scenarios, early detection by the women herself using breast self examination remains a viable option.

Good levels of awareness with respect to signs and symptoms of breast cancer and the regular practice of breast self-examination can help the individuals who are symptomatic to access health care facilities earlier. The existing studies in Indian population with respect to the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding breast cancer awareness and breast self-examination indicate a need for improvement. This present study aims to study the effect of a video-based intervention that can be shared across a virtual platform on the existing knowledge, attitude and practices of breast cancer awareness and breast self-examination amongst the literate women residing in the metropolitan city of Delhi.