Prevalence and Risk Factors for Breast Cancer: A Hospital Based Cross-sectional Study in Nepal

Aims: The aims of this study were to assess risk factors of breast cancer in female and to find out the hospital-based prevalence of female breast cancer in Nepal.

Study Design: Hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was done.

Place and Duration of Study: The study sites were Bhaktapur Cancer hospital, Nepal. The duration of the study was 12 months.

Methodology: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was done to assess risk factors and prevalence of Breast cancer in Nepal at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. Data was collected by simple random sampling method and hospital record was collected to assess the prevalence of breast cancer and data analysis were carried out using SPSS software.

Results: The study shows the increase of the age; increases the risk of breast cancer. The mean age group is 52.65 with a standard deviation of 9.518. Out of 83 participants, 42 (48.2%) was a smoker and 46 (55.4%) were alcoholics. 15 (18.1%) of the participants have early menarche before the age of 7-11 years. As of 2013 and 2012 hospital data shows that breast cancer is third prevalent among all types of cancer. In 2013 Female breast cancer was 171 among all cancer 1713 and in 2012, 155 among 1602 of all cancer.

Conclusion: Breast cancer is the most common cancer. The strongest risk factor for breast cancer is age; the increase of age increases the risk of breast cancer.