Breast self-examination among college females

Self-reported behavior and attitudes toward breast self-examination (BSE) among 230 female college students age 20 and older revealed that less than one in four were compliant with American Cancer Society recommendations of monthly practice. Respondents were classified as examiners (N = 113) if they reported BSE practice at least 6 times a year. A discriminant analysis produced a significant degree of separation between examiners and non-examiners (chi 2(3) = 90.199, p less than .005) and identified three variables which significantly discriminated the groups. Examiners were more familiar with BSE, more worried about cancer, and more willing to increase their knowledge about BSE. Initial exposure to BSE was from physicians or print media; however, subjects expressed a preference for learning more about the technique in a person-to-person setting with another woman or women. Respondents reported that reminders would be likely to increase BSE frequency.