BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION. EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION IN WOMEN AT RISK.

Breast cancer is a health problem in the world; in Cuba it is the second cause of death in the female population. A descriptive research was carried out in women classified as at risk of breast cancer in clinic No. 23, in the 26 de Julio community, belonging to the "Manuel Piti Fajardo" polyclinic in Santo Domingo, in order to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics, level of knowledge about breast cancer risk factors and breast self-examination and to determine the components to design the educational intervention in a population of 202 women over 40 years of age. The data obtained were processed in Excel 2010 spreadsheets, Windows 7 version. The predominant age group was women between 50 and 69 years of age, married/unmarried, the prevailing level of schooling was high school and the occupation was housewife. Most of the women presented incorrect knowledge about risk factors for breast cancer and breast self-examination, showed ignorance of the alterations that can be found in the examination, menstrual cycle and hand movements during self-examination and agreed to receive information on the topics explained above. Knowledge of breast self-examination and breast cancer risk factors are topics that need to be strengthened, since most of the women showed lack of knowledge.