Health Seeking Behaviour Of Breast Cancer Women Attending Kisii Teaching And Referral Hospital In Kisii County, Kenya

Abstract

With 2.1 million women affected, breast cancer is the leading disease among women. Globally with over 600,000 deaths being recorded each year. In Kenya It makes up 20.9% of all malignancies in women and is typically characterized by advanced disease presentation, lack of knowledge about the prevalence of breast cancer and difficulty accessing facilities that are important for screening of breast cancer. This study assessed the factors that influence health seeking behavior among women suffering from breast cancer in Kisii County. Specifically, the study explored the socio-economic, cultural, psychosocial factors and institutional elements that affect how breast cancer patients behave in terms of seeking out health care Kisii County. The study was carried out in Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital targeting women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. A sample size of 96 breast cancer positive women was selected through purposive sampling. Structured and open-ended questionnaires were used as the main data collection tools. Collected data was entered into MS Excel, coded then analyzed using Chi square and correlation analysis through the aid of a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and P values of <0.05 were considered significant. Results were presented using percentages, tables and figures. It was noted that 84.4% of the respondents were rural dwellers while 15.6% were urban dwellers with 56.3% of the respondents being Protestants. A majority (69.79%) of the respondents were married, 27.08% were single while 3.13% were widowed. Majority (53%) of the respondents had attained a secondary level of education, 54.2% were self-employed while 80.2% of the respondents had an average income of KShs 10,000. A test of association revealed no connection between breast cancer and treatment and an individual’s level of income (χ2=2.773, P=0.597) among women suffering from breast cancer in Kisii County. There ix were varied beliefs among the respondents on cultural factors and their influence on health seeking behaviour with 59.4% (n=57, N=96) of the respondents disagreeing that breast cancer is a curse hence majority of them sought to seek treatment immediately after realizing that they had breast cancer. Only 2.1% of the respondents agreed that breast cancer is a curse. Further, it was revealed that witchcraft was not associated with behavior of breast cancer patients seeking health care in Kisii County (χ2=9.907, P=0.624). However, majority of the respondents (67.7%) agreed that breast cancer is a killer disease that spreads very fast to other parts of the body once a person is infected. About 66% of the respondents disagreed that herbal drugs can cure breast cancer while 16.7% of the respondents had a neutral view. Most (71.9%) of the respondents agreed that presenting with an advanced cancer stage could force them to seek treatment for breast cancer. Among the institutional factors that might influence health seeking behaviour, it was noted that offering services timely by any health facility was not an influencing factor in seeking health care services for breast cancer patients in Kisii County (χ2=7.781, P=0.556). This study has revealed that having an advanced breast cancer can make a patient seek treatment immediately. Therefore, the findings of this study will lead to the formulation of policies that will ensure that women suffering from breast cancer get treatment early before the disease advances.