W C Chie1, K W Cheng, C H Fu, L L Yen. 1. Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Republic of China.
Abstract
METHODS: A questionnaire interview was conducted on a sample of 3,040 women ages 30-59 years in the Taipei area through multistage sampling with probability proportional to size. Excluding mistakes in household registration, there were 2,311 qualified subjects, 1,749 of whom (75.7%) completed the interview. The study framework was set up according to Green's PRECEDE model. RESULTS: In the results of this study only 8.4% of the subjects performed breast self-examinations monthly, and no single step of the breast self-examination procedure had a correct rate above 30%. The most remarkable associative factor for the correctness of breast self-examination was "source of instruction," a variable of "enabling factors"; other variables with strong associations were "newspaper contact" (contact with health reports in newspapers), which also belongs to the enabling factors category and "knowledge of breast cancer," a "predisposing factor." Demographic factors such as "educational level" and "urbanizational level" were only indirectly related. CONCLUSION: The authors suggested using all possible routes of health education, such as mass media, hospitals and clinics, and distribution of information in the workplace, to instruct and encourage breast self-examination, especially among women from rural communities and those with less education.
METHODS: A questionnaire interview was conducted on a sample of 3,040 women ages 30-59 years in the Taipei area through multistage sampling with probability proportional to size. Excluding mistakes in household registration, there were 2,311 qualified subjects, 1,749 of whom (75.7%) completed the interview. The study framework was set up according to Green's PRECEDE model. RESULTS: In the results of this study only 8.4% of the subjects performed breast self-examinations monthly, and no single step of the breast self-examination procedure had a correct rate above 30%. The most remarkable associative factor for the correctness of breast self-examination was "source of instruction," a variable of "enabling factors"; other variables with strong associations were "newspaper contact" (contact with health reports in newspapers), which also belongs to the enabling factors category and "knowledge of breast cancer," a "predisposing factor." Demographic factors such as "educational level" and "urbanizational level" were only indirectly related. CONCLUSION: The authors suggested using all possible routes of health education, such as mass media, hospitals and clinics, and distribution of information in the workplace, to instruct and encourage breast self-examination, especially among women from rural communities and those with less education.