International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 7, Issue 4 (July-August 2025) Submit your research before last 3 days of August to publish your research paper in the issue of July-August.
Submit Research Paper Join as a Reviewer

Plagiarism is checked by the leading plagiarism checker TurnItIn

Call for Paper

Volume 7 Issue 4
July-August 2025

Submit your research paper

Indexing Partners
Academia Advanced Sciences Index Bielefeld Academic Search Engine CiteSeer DRJI Google Scholar Independent Search Engine & Directory Network ISI (International Scientific Indexing) Issuu Mendeley Research Networks
RefSeek ResearcherId - Thomson Reuters ResearchGate Scirus Scribd Semantic Scholar UTeM - Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka Wiki for Call for Papers WorldCat Zenodo

Effectiveness of Breast Self-Examination (BSE) for Early Detection of Breast Cancer in India (2010–2024)

Author(s) Ms. Rukamanee yadav, Mr. Bharat Bhushan Dagur
Country India
Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Indian women, with incidence rising and over 90,000 deaths annually. Late-stage presentation is common due to limited screening programs, low awareness and sociocultural barriers. Breast self-examination (BSE) is a low-cost strategy intended to increase women’s breast awareness, but its impact on cancer outcomes in India is unclear.
Aim: To systematically review and appraise the evidence on the effectiveness of BSE for early breast cancer detection in India (2010–2024), including Indian and global data, barriers to BSE uptake and recommendations for public health practice.
Methods: We conducted a PRISMA-guided literature search (PubMed, Google Scholar, etc.) for studies published 2010–2024 on BSE in India. Search terms included “breast self-examination”, “breast cancer screening”, and “India”. Peer-reviewed studies (randomized, observational, cross-sectional, and interventional) and key reports (WHO/ICMR/NCRP) were included; editorials were used for context. Two reviewers screened titles/abstracts, assessed full texts, and extracted data. In total, ~250 records were identified; after duplicate removal and screening, ~15–20 studies met inclusion criteria (Indian studies of awareness/interventions, plus major global trials).
Results: Among included Indian studies, community surveys consistently found very low BSE awareness and practice. For example, only 18% of urban Jaipur women knew about BSE and just 5.7% practiced it. In rural Tamil Nadu, 58% of women had poor BSE knowledge and 89.6% never practiced it. Educational interventions markedly improved uptake: a Mumbai study raised monthly BSE practice from ~3% to 65% after a health-education program. In Hyderabad camps, training ~5,000 women achieved 93% compliance with BSE; 165 new lumps were found, of which 76 (1.5%) were malignant. Suresh et al. trained 7,214 rural women and reported a 1.9% cancer detection rate (142 cases) after augmented BSE (aBSE) plus BSE instruction. By contrast, large international trials (China, Russia) showed no breast-cancer mortality benefit from regular BSE, but nearly doubled false-positive biopsies. In India, no analogous large trial exists, so mortality impact is unknown. Barriers identified include cultural stigma (shyness, fear of a cancer diagnosis) and lack of health education, plus socioeconomic and access issues (low literacy, scarce female providers).
Conclusion: Global evidence indicates that BSE alone does not reduce breast cancer mortality, and Indian studies do not contradict this (no mortality data is available). However, Indian experience shows BSE education can raise awareness, increase detection of early lumps, and potentially downstage disease when linked with clinical follow-up. We recommend integrating BSE instruction into community health programs and combining it with clinical breast examination (CBE) by trained providers, to maximize early detection in resource-limited settings. Overcoming cultural and access barriers (through female health workers, school programs, media campaigns) is essential for success. Future research should evaluate structured BSE promotion alongside clinical screening to clarify its impact on early diagnosis and outcomes in India.
Keywords: Breast cancer, breast self-examination, early detection, India, systematic review, awareness, screening.
Keywords Breast cancer, breast self-examination, early detection, India, systematic review, awareness, screening.
Field Medical / Pharmacy
Published In Volume 7, Issue 4, July-August 2025
Published On 2025-07-20
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i04.51327
Short DOI https://doi.org/g9tz53
View / Download PDF File

Share this



E-ISSN 2582-2160
CrossRef

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads
Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 4Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 3Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 2

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA Open Access

About IJFMR
Fees & Payment
Current Issue
Publication Archive 		Submit Research Paper
Track Submission Status
Publication Guidelines
Publication Ethics
Peer Review & Plagiarism 		Join as a Reviewer
Editors & Reviewers
Reviewer Referral Program
Get Reviewer Membership Certi. 		Website/Journal Policies
Usage Policy
Content Policies
Privacy Policy
Contact Us +91-9687-828-838 editor@ijfmr.com