Level of knowledge of breast self-examination technique through educational intervention

Abstract

Introduction. Breast cancer represents the leading cause of death from malignant tumors, mainly in women. In Mexico, in 2022, there were 23,790 new cases of breast cancer registered among the population aged 20 years and older. The literature review does not show recent educational interventions to improve the level of knowledge in breast self-examination in central Mexico.

Objective. To determine the effect of an educational intervention on the level of knowledge about the breast self-examination technique in women from an urban population of Mexico City.

Methodology. Pre-experimental, comparative and longitudinal design. The sample consisted of 49 women aged 20 to 60 years, from an urban area of Mexico City, who agreed to participate with informed consent. 

Results. In general, the level of pre-knowledge was 35.71 % and post-intervention knowledge was 64.62 % showing a positive increase of 28.91 %. 

Conclusions. The level of knowledge before the educational intervention was deficient; likewise, the efficiency of the educational intervention was demonstrated, by registering a considerable post-intervention level of knowledge as good. It was also identified the negative influence of different social determinants. It is important to emphasize that health education is an effective method with the support of digital tools according to the type of population to increase the level knowledge. As it was mentioned before, the educational interventions increase knowledge in women giving them competencies the detect breast cancer on early stages.