BREAST CANCER AND SELF-EXAM: ANALYSIS OF PREGNANT WOMEN’S KNOWLEDGE

• Main Authors: Angélica Mota Marinho, Fátima Cavalcante Lima, Márcio Flávio Moura de Araújo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal do Paraná 2007-12-01
• Series: Cogitare Enfermagem
• Subjects: Knowledge; Pregnant women; Breast neoplasms; Self-exam
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.5380/ce.v12i4.10074

The study analyzes pregnant women’s knowledge on breast cancer and self-exam. It’s an exploratory and qualitativestudy, carried out between February and March of 2005 in a medical center in Fortaleza. Nineteen pregnant women, who had undergonethe first prenatal exam, were investigated. Data collection was performed by means of participant observation during consultations andsemi-structured interview with the pregnant women. Data analysis evidenced that although most of the researched women have gotsome knowledge on breast cancer and its occurrence during pregnancy, there is limited knowledge on the breast self-test. Most of themrealized it is important, but few of them practice it as usual care during gestation. It deems necessary to encourage health education sothat pregnant women and health professionals realize the relevance in promoting the self-test during pregnancy.