Self examination for breast and testicular cancers: a community-based intervention study

Prevalence of cancers is growing rapidly in all parts of the word with Pakistan being no exception. Prevention is the best option to tackle this rising epidemic. Screening, early detection and health awareness programs are the cornerstones in this regard. A community-based interventional study was therefore here conducted to assess the effect of health education intervention about knowledge and practice of self-breast examination (SBE) among women and self-testicular examination (STE) among men. A total of 127 (70 females and 57 males) adults (≥ 18 years) from an urban community of Karachi, Pakistan were included after taking informed consent. Interventions were in the local language (Urdu) and included educational and awareness sessions by symposia, lectures and hand-on practice demonstrations about SBE and STE. Informative leaflets and brochures were also used in this regard. Pre-intervention assessment revealed that 57% women had knowledge of SBE and 4% men knew about STE and this proportion increased significantly (p<0.001) after the intervention both in women and in men, by 83% and 72%, respectively Similarly, significant post-intervention improvements were reported for SBE and STE practices (p<0.001). Our results suggest that educational interventions at the community level increase the knowledge and practices of women and men for SBE and STE.