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Background:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Early detection and prompt treatment offers the greatest chance of survival. We described the knowledge, attitude and practice of breast self examination among female students of a tertiary institution in Sokoto, northwest Nigeria.

Methods:

A set of semi structured self administered questionnaire was used to seek information on respondents’ knowledge, attitude and practice of breast self examination. A total of 80 female students were selected using stratified sampling technique, with a response rate of 100%. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Microsoft Excel 2007.

Results:

The mean age of respondents was 21 years ±SD1.83, with 48.8% of them being Hausa. They are predominantly Muslims and 85% are single. About 19% of the respondents have family history of breast cancer. Up to 96% of them have heard about breast cancer and 86.3% were aware of BSE, however, only 46% of them had adequate knowledge of BSE. Majority (96%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards BSE as 92.5% of them think BSE is necessary and a further 97.5% would like to know more about it. This study showed poor level of BSE practice with only 17.5% showing good practice out of the 45% of respondents that have ever practiced BSE.

Conclusion:

Most of the respondents have heard about BSE but only 46.3% had adequate knowledge. Majority of respondents demonstrated a positive attitude towards BSE; however, the practice was low.