Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the level of
education that Canadian women have and their use of breast self-examination (BSE). The
secondary objective of this study was to do some exploratory research to measure how
the demographic characteristics of these women, and the behaviours that they chose to
participate in, might be associated to their use of BSE. This exploratory research was
done to gain a better understanding of what kinds of lifestyle and behavioural factors are
associated with the use of BSE, and how these factors impact on the relationship that
education has on women's use of BSE.
The data for the women in the sample were taken from the 1990 Population
Health Survey, conducted by Statistics Canada. This survey included questions related to
both the demographic characteristics of this population, and their behavioural choices in
regards to various healthy lifestyle factors.
Education was found to be significantly related to the use of BSE. Many of the
demographic variables (age, income, marital status and language) were also found to be
significantly related to the use of BSE. The behavioural variables (tobacco use, alcohol
use) did not reflect such a strong relationship.
