A Study on Breast Cancer Knowledge and Awareness among Rural Women in Kashmir Region, Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

In Kashmir Cancer esophagus has a high incidence in both males and females with a sex ratio of approximately 2:1 followed by cancer lung and stomach in males and cancer breast and ovary in females. The most familiar type of cancer diagnosed worldwide among women which contribute around 15% of mortality is breast cancer. We know breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women worldwide contributing around 15% of mortality. In India the second most familiar cancer among women is breast cancer and the incidence of breast cancer among women is twice in rural areas as compared to urban areas. The current study was conducted to examine the existing levels of consciousness among rural women in which we chose 400 rural women at random for our study on their consent. A well developed validated questionnaire was used for the collection of data and data collected was analysed using appropriate statistical tools. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were in the age group of 25-34 years and  maximum respondents were not aware about the main risk factors for breast cancer among women like family history, older age, nulliparity, obesity, smoking, and unhealthy diet.  It was suggested that in order to decrease the spread of breast cancer among women in Kashmir valley, increasing consciousness about breast cancer is important.