BACKGROUND: Although breast self-examination (BSE) has long been recommended by health care practitioners as a complement to mammography and clinical breast examination, only a small percentage of U.S. women report doing monthly BSE, and an even smaller number of women perform this procedure proficiently. OBJECTIVES: To measure the effect of a structured training protocol on improving two dimensions of BSE technique (depth of palpation and search time) in each of two search patterns (vertical strip and concentric circle) using biomedical instrumentation. METHODS: For this study, 41 young women participated in a structured training protocol for BSE instruction. The dependent variable was thoroughness of search, for which there were two measures: depth of palpation (displacement of the sensors) and duration of the examination. An instrumented breast model designed by the investigator provided quantitative measurements of examination behaviors and was used to test outcomes of the instruction. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses demonstrated an overall difference across examinations (F = 28.03; p = 0.0001). Univariate tests showed treatment effects for both dependent variables: depth of palpation and duration of examination. CONCLUSIONS: Individual training in BSE with guided practice improved two measures of thoroughness of search: depth of palpation and duration of search time. Biomedical instrumentation represented a novel approach to the collection of quantitative performance data.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Although breast self-examination (BSE) has long been recommended by health care practitioners as a complement to mammography and clinical breast examination, only a small percentage of U.S. women report doing monthly BSE, and an even smaller number of women perform this procedure proficiently. OBJECTIVES: To measure the effect of a structured training protocol on improving two dimensions of BSE technique (depth of palpation and search time) in each of two search patterns (vertical strip and concentric circle) using biomedical instrumentation. METHODS: For this study, 41 young women participated in a structured training protocol for BSE instruction. The dependent variable was thoroughness of search, for which there were two measures: depth of palpation (displacement of the sensors) and duration of the examination. An instrumented breast model designed by the investigator provided quantitative measurements of examination behaviors and was used to test outcomes of the instruction. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses demonstrated an overall difference across examinations (F = 28.03; p = 0.0001). Univariate tests showed treatment effects for both dependent variables: depth of palpation and duration of examination. CONCLUSIONS: Individual training in BSE with guided practice improved two measures of thoroughness of search: depth of palpation and duration of search time. Biomedical instrumentation represented a novel approach to the collection of quantitative performance data.