Perception of Breast Cancer Among Women Sufferers and Its Influence on Their Uptake of Immunohistochemistry Services in Imo State Tertiary Hospitals, Nigeria (original) (raw)

Background: Breast cancer is the cancer in which women are most frequently diagnosed, making it a significant global public health issue. Although advanced nations have a higher incidence of breast cancer, poor nations like Nigeria have the highest rates of morbidity and mortality from the disease. Objective: This study explored how breast cancer was perceived in Imo State among women with breast cancer and how it affected people's usage of Immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique to diagnose and manage their condition. Methodology: Descriptive study methodology for the investigation, and 121 participants were chosen at random from the 891 total population. The respondents were chosen through a systematic sampling procedure. Structured questionnaire was used as the data collection tool, and the statistical software for social science (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of the 121 participants in study was 45.2±0.7 years. Many of the perception factors about breast cancer disease and its treatment recorded positive results with high mean score of 4 points out of a 5-point scale. Despite overall high positivity of perception of breast cancer treatment/management (4.09±0.97) among our respondents, it could not be counted to be as a predictor of IHC service uptake, as it associated weakly. Conclusion: In this study, the consumption of IHC services was influenced by the respondents' perception of the disease and cannot be used as an impact factor on non-utilization.