The relationship between self-esteem, health habits, and knowledge of BSE practice in female inmates

This article reports on data derived from an investigation of the self-esteem, health habits, and knowledge of breast self-examination (BSE) practice in female inmates. A descriptive correlational study was conducted with a prison sample of 197 adult females incarcerated in a women's state prison. Major findings of the study suggest that female inmates in general had medium to high self-esteem, poor health habits before incarceration, and minimal knowledge about BSE practice. Only 26% reported correct knowledge related to frequency in BSE practice, and few reported that they knew correct BSE technique. In addition, findings suggest that a correlation does not exist between self-esteem and knowledge of BSE practice, and participants' last grade completed served as a good predictor of women's knowledge of BSE practice.