Training health workers in clinical breast examination for early detection of breast cancer in low‐ and middle‐income countries

Authors: Shahin Sayed,Anthony K Ngugi, Nicole Nwosu, Miriam C Mutebi, Powell Ochieng, Aruyaru S Mwenda, and Rehana A Salam

This study sought to assess whether training in clinical breast examinations (CBEs) affects the ability of health workers in LMICs to detect early breast cancer. A review of related current literature was conducted utilizing the following databases: Cochrane Breast Cancer Specialized Registry, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) search portal, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Overall, studies suggested that training health workers in CBE may increase the number of women detected with breast cancer at an early stage. Studies also suggested that training health workers in CBE may slightly reduce the number of women detected with breast cancer at a late stage when intervention options are more limited. These findings imply that the training of health workers, including CHWs, in CBE for early detection of breast cancer may provide benefits to underserved communities in LMICs.