Table 2.
Lay perceptions of severity and symptoms/signs of breast cancer in Western Kenya
|
No. coded statements (%) |
||||
| Perception | Kapsokwony 489 (36%) | Mosoriot 280 (21%) | Turbo 580 (43%) | Total Perceptions 1349 (100%) |
| Severity | ||||
| Killer disease | 105 (21.5) | 45 (16.1) | 116 (20.0) | 266 (19.7) |
| Breasts are removed | 10 (2.0) | 3 (1.1) | 12 (2.1) | 25 (1.9) |
| Curable if detected early | 10 (2.0) | 6 (2.1) | 2 (0.3) | 18 (1.3) |
| A disease like any other | 5 (1.0) | 6 (2.1) | 3 (0.5) | 14 (1.0) |
| It does not exist | 3 (0.6) | 1 (0.4) | 0 | 4 (0.3) |
| Spreads to rest of the body | 2 (0.4) | 1 (0.4) | 0 | 3 (0.2) |
| Cancer eats away the breast | 0 | 1 (0.4) | 0 | 1 (0.1) |
| Don’t know | 354 (72.4) | 217 (77.5) | 447 (77.1) | 1018 (75.5) |
| Symptoms/signs | ||||
| 1166 (40%) | 552 (19%) | 1192 (41%) | 2910 (100%) | |
| Changes in breast size | 207 (17.8) | 109 (19.7) | 266 (22.3) | 582 (20.0) |
| Pain, tingle or tenderness of the breast | 195 (16.7) | 88 (15.9) | 243 (20.4) | 526 (18.1) |
| Lump in breast | 165 (14.2) | 72 (13.0) | 129 (10.9) | 366 (12.6) |
| Discharge from the breast | 163 (13.9) | 58 (10.5) | 131 (11.0) | 352 (12.1) |
| Wound on the breast | 92 (7.9) | 39 (7.1) | 90 (7.6) | 221 (7.6) |
| Itching | 80 (6.9) | 17 (3.1) | 68 (5.7) | 165 (5.7) |
| Change in breast skin color | 44 (3.8) | 17 (3.1) | 27 (2.3) | 88 (3.0) |
| Rash on breast and skin peeling | 30 (2.6) | 8 (1.4) | 20 (1.7) | 58 (2.0) |
| Change in nipples | 21 (1.8) | 10 (1.8) | 17 (1.4) | 48 (1.6) |
| Swelling in any other parts of the body | 11 (0.9) | 8 (1.4) | 7 (0.6) | 26 (0.9) |
| General symptoms1 | 28 (2.4) | 33 (6.0) | 26 (2.2) | 87 (3.0) |
| Don’t know | 130 (11.1) | 93 (16.8) | 168 (14.1) | 391 (13.4) |
1
General symptoms include fatigue, chest pain, loss of weight, change in eye color, liver trouble, no appetite, sweating, cough, chills, and fever.