Table 6. Attitudes and practices towards BSEc.
| Question | Healthcare professionals | Healthcare students | Total | p-valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strongly/somewhat agreea | ||||
| Have you heard of BSEs? (Yesd) | 164 (85.0) | 152 (78.8) | 316 (81.9) | n.s. |
| BSE is a useful tool for the early detection of BC | 183 (97.3) | 183 (94.3) | 366 (95.8) | n.s. |
| BSE is difficult and time consuming | 43 (24.4) | 70 (38.0) | 113 (31.4) | 0.0054 |
| I am confident that I could detect abnormalities in a breast if there were any | 178 (97.3) | 158 (87.3) | 336 (92.3) | 0.0004 |
| I am confident I could teach someone to conduct their own BSE | 150 (81.1) | 160 (83.3) | 310 (82.2) | n.s. |
| I frequently recommend that patient conduct their own BSE | 142 (82.6) | 139 (75.1) | 281 (78.7) | n.s. |
a
Values are frequency (percent). ‘I don’t know’ responses were coded as missing
b
p-value is for χ2 test between healthcare professionals and healthcare students
c
A healthcare professional’s supervisory presence is required for Somali healthcare students to conduct screenings, provide treatment or offer recommendations
d
Answers shown in table for question 1 correspond to the response: ‘Yes’