Breast self-examination by young women: I. Characteristics associated with frequency.

We surveyed a stratified random sample of college women (n = 869) to investigate correlates of the frequency of breast self-examination (BSE) in two young, relatively low risk populations, undergraduate and graduate women. The findings from this study compared to those from studies on older women suggest that certain factors are associated with BSE frequency for women of all ages (i.e., confidence in one's ability to perform the exam and exposure to information on breast cancer). There also appear to be distinct factors associated with the frequency of BSE performances among women within specific age-groups. For the younger, undergraduate women, attitudinal barriers; medical services use; skill knowledge; perception of personal control in detecting lumps; reinforcement through clinical breast exam; and the discussion of BSE with others were important factors in accounting for the variation in frequency of BSE performance. For the graduate women, in addition to confidence in one's ability to perform the test and exposure to breast cancer messages, one's perceived susceptibility, knowledge of risk factors, and perception of personal control in detecting lumps were important. The independent variables examined within each age-group accounted for a substantial amount of the variance in the dependent measure (34 percent and 42 percent, respectively, for undergraduate and graduate women), as compared to previous research, which has explained only 7-15 percent of the variance in BSE performance. This tends to validate our approach of using a multidimensional conceptual framework drawn from existing theoretical orientations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)