Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF PERCEPTION ABOUT BREAST CANCER IN RANDOMLY SELECTED PHARMACY STUDENTS OF RURAL AREA OF NORTH MAHARASHTRA

Sughosh Vishweshwar Upasani*, Dikshita Bhagwant Patil, Govinda Satish Bhandari and Nitin Ghanshyamdas Haswani

Abstract

Introduction - The most common type of cancer; second cause of female death, found in women of developing and developed countries is breast cancer. Signs like a changing breast shape, a lump formation in the breast, fluid coming from the nipple, inverted nipple, skin dimpling, skin has red or scaly patch, spreading may shows pain in bone, lymph nodes swelling, breath shortness, or yellow skin. Breast cancer can be classified into more than 18 other sub-types. For breast cancer various treatments strategies were used including chemo, hormonal, radiation, surgeries, and targeted therapy. A study says 02 million new cases with more than 625000 deaths were reported in 2018. The ratio of man and women is 01: 100. Materials and Methods- A questionnaire was prepared and get filled by participants. Convenient sampling methodology was adopted for the study. It encompassed the questions related to breast cancer warning signs and different screening methods, for examining awareness about breast cancer. Data management and statistical analysis was done using Microsoft excel software. Results and Discussion - Total 270 pharmacy students were participated both male (47.41%) and female (52.59%). Information is tabulated in following table no. 01. In this study amongst from 52.59% female majority (61%) are not heard the breast cancer before. Conclusion- Majority, of the women were not aware about the recommended steps of Breast Self-Examination. Awareness programs, social camps, expert talk, lectures have significance over unawareness situation.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Pharmacy student, Risk factors, Awareness program, Survey, Breast Self-Examination.