COMPLIANCE WITH MAMMOGRAPHY SCREENING OF BREAST CANCER IN ISUOCHI AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

This is a prospective study carried out in Isuochi among primary school teachers to know the compliance of the teachers on Breast cancer screening technique or method as it concern the mammography examination and Self Breast Examination (SBE). The research was done in nine communities in Isuochi, Abia state. The research was carried out with convenient sampling to reduce stress and cost to the researcher. The research lasted for a period for four months March – July 2012. From the results obtained during the research study, it is obvious that a good number of primary school teachers in Isuochi do not comply and go for a recommendable breast cancer screening technique due to distance and lack of basic information, even among the teachers who are assumed to be most learned in the community as the case may be.

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION.

References

Appendix

Questionnaire 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and leading cause of death among women worldwide 1.  In Abia state, a lot of death have been recorded on breast cancer. In 2000  ,breast cancer resulted in an estimated 189,000 death in developed countries and 184,000 death in developing countries ,accounting for 16% and 12% respectively of all cancer death in women . While the age standardized incidence of breast   cancer is generally lower in developing countries 1 

Over the past years, the risk of breast cancer in developed countries has increase by one to three percent annually3 .Although the cause and natural history of breast cancer remain unknown , epidemiological research has uncovered genetic, biological, environmental and lifestyle risk factors for the disease 3 . Most of these researches have been conducted in Nigeria and in developed countries, but studies conducted in other countries generally confirm these patterns. 

Age is the single most important risk factor for breast cancer. Compared with women in their twenties, they are 10 times as likely to develop breast cancer in their thirties ,40 times as likely in their forties, 60 times as likely in their fifties, and 90 times as likely after age 60 3. Breast cancer in Nigeria is one of the leading cause of death in women aged 30years and above 4.

Hormones, especially estrogens, play a crucial role in the development and growth of breast cancer, and they may be the common factor behind the many reproductive variables associated with breast cancer 4. In theory, the more years a woman is exposed to hormones during her lifetime, the greater her risk of breast cancer, for example, women are two times more likely to get breast cancer if  they reach menopause after the age of 54, and three times more likely if they have their first child after  the age 40 5 .Similarly, breast cancer risks fall with each year of delay in onset of menstruation. Studies also suggest that extended breastfeeding for a lifetime total of six years or more reduces the risk of breast cancer; at least among premenopausal women 8 .Some case-control studies have raised concern that the abrupt hormonal changes accompanying induced abortions might increase the risk of breast cancer later in life. However, these studies suffer from a serious bias: because abortion is so controversial, healthy women in control groups are far less likely to share information about it than women with cancer. Larger, more rigorous cohort studies that lack this bias have found no link between induced abortion and breast cancer risk.  Breast cancer is more easily and effectively treated in its early stages. Survival rates reduce when women present with advanced cases, regardless of the setting. Five-year survival rates in Nigeria, for example, are 80% for cancer    confined to the breast, 46% for cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, and 10% for cancer that has metastasized to more distant parts of the body; comparable figures for white women in the United States which are 97%, 76%, and 20%, respectively 9 .Therefore, one key strategy for reducing breast cancer mortality is increasing the proportion of cases that are detected early. This .approach is called down staging 2. Unfortunately, women in low-resource countries i.e. under developed countries generally present at a later stage of disease than women elsewhere9. One factor that contributes to later detection is women’s delay in having breast lumps evaluated. Some may not realize how serious their condition is or that cancer treatments are available, while others may believe their symptoms are best treated with local remedies. In many countries, the social stigma associated with breast cancer and the potential disfigurement of mastectomy pose obstacles to care. Educating women about breast cancer may encourage them to seek medical care promptly. The absence of mass screening programs in many countries also contributes to the problem. Regular screening of all women over a certain age has the potential to reveal more of breast cancer cases diagnosed in the earliest stages.   However, these categories of people both men and women should be knowledgeable enough on the risk of breast Cancer.