ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1681802
This article is part of the Research TopicStrategies to Improve Awareness and Management of Cancer Risk Factors and ScreeningsView all 11 articles
Health Beliefs and Breast Self-Examination Practices Among Female Health Science Students in Hungary: A Health Belief Model Perspective
Provisionally accepted
- 1Pecsi Tudomanyegyetem Egeszsegtudomanyi Kar, Pécs, Hungary
- 2Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pecs, Hungary
- 3Magyar Agrar- es Elettudomanyi Egyetem - Kaposvari Campus, Kaposvár, Hungary
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Background/Objectives: Breast cancer remains one of the leading health concerns for women worldwide, while methods promoting early detection, such as breast self-examination (BSE), are still insufficiently integrated into preventive practices. The aim of this study was to explore health beliefs related to BSE and the factors influencing them among female students of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pécs, using the Health Belief Model (HBM). Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 251 students, who assessed perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy, and health motivation regarding BSE using the Champion Health Belief Model Scale (CHMBS). Results: The study found that 50.2% of students performed BSE regularly, 41.8% occasionally, and 8% never. A family history of breast cancer, especially cases in-volving grandmothers, was significantly associated with the practice of breast self-examination (χ² = 4.437, p = 0.035). Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor (OR=1.67; p<0.001), while perceived barriers (OR=0.68; p=0.012), perceived severity (OR=1.32; p=0.003), and BSE knowledge (OR=1.23; p=0.035) also influenced engagement. Students with higher self-efficacy (χ²=12.875, p=0.012) and better knowledge of breast cancer pre-vention were more likely to practice BSE. Information from gynecologists and family played a crucial role in BSE adherence. Conclusions: This study offers a new perspective for pro-fessionals by emphasizing the need for targeted health education programs that focus on strengthening self-efficacy and reducing perceived barriers. Our findings are of significant public health importance, as they support the integration of structured BSE education into university curricula, thereby fostering the development of health-conscious behaviors that promote early detection among young women.
Keywords: Breast Self-Examination, breast cancer awareness, health belief model, Health Education, health-conscious behavior, female university students
Received: 08 Aug 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Garai, Márton, Sipos and Csima. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: David Sipos, cpt.david.sipos@gmail.com
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