Status and structural equation modeling analysis of "knowledge, attitude and practice" of breast self-examination among female college students in Anhui province

ObjectiveTo investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice(KAP) status of breast self-examination among female college students in Anhui province, and quantitatively analyze the interaction mechanism between them to provide a reference for scientific breast education in colleges and universities.

MethodsUsing self-designed questionnaires, 2 400 female college students from 15 colleges in Anhui province were randomly investigated.The KAP status of breast self-examination in female college students were descriptively analyzed suing SPSS 25.0, the structural equation modeling(SEM) of data were analyzed using Amos 24.0, and the data were tested using Bootstrap method.

ResultsOn the female college students' breast self-examination, the total awareness rate of knowledge was 73.62%, the total holding rate of attitude was 78.18%, and the total implementation rate of behavior was 27.91%.The fitting degree of SEM and data was good.The effects of demographic characteristics on behavior was largest(P < 0.01).The knowledge, attitude and practice of breast self-examination were positively correlated with each other(P < 0.01).The direct effect of knowledge on attitude was 0.293(P < 0.01).The direct effect value of attitude on behavior was 0.289(P < 0.01);The direct effect value of knowledge on behavior was 0.160(P < 0.01), and the indirect effect value of knowledge on behavior was 0.085(P < 0.01).Attitude played partial mediating effect.

ConclusionsThe KAP status of the breast self-examination among female college students in Anhui province needs to be improved.In the health education of breast self-examination, the synchronous development of KAP should be paid attention to.