BARRIERS FOR THE PRACTICE OF THE SELF-BREAST EXAMINATION AMONG THE HEALTH FIELD STUDENTS - FORTALEZA, CEARÁ.

Abstract

This work had as purpose to identify the barriers for the practice of breast self-examination among students from health filed courses from three universities in Fortaleza, Ceará. Descriptive, transversal study, developed with 741 students. It was used a self applicable questionnaire and the data were organized on SPSS and analyzed based on the Health Promotion purposes. From 741 scholars, 604 (81,5%) did not examine their breasts every month. The main obstacles were: forgetfulness (67,8%),lacking of attention to health (53,1%), lack of acquaintance of the right technique (40,5%), and not trusting the technique (30,1%). The academics referred to know the importance of precocious detection (78,3%), believed in the breast self-examination (81,2%), liked to touch themselves (78,8%) and they would like to learn the correct technique (92,4%). Although the participants related non-acquaintance and inattention on the breast self-examination, they manifested the will to learn the right technique. It is suggested the inclusion of this theoretical and practical knowledge in the college education. Keywords: Women's health; Self examination; Health promotion.