Breast awareness refers to knowing one's breasts and, therefore, being able to identify changes. Breast awareness is made possible through breast self-examination (BSE), a periodic and systematic self-assessment of the breasts and surrounding area using inspection and palpation. Most women attending universities are too young to have their breasts screened through mammography, and they could benefit from BSE. This study aimed at describing the knowledge and attitudes related to BSE among university students in the midwestern US. This was a cross-sectional study, via Qualtrics. A total of 759 undergraduate students answered at least 80% of the survey. Most participants demonstrated satisfactory knowledge about the steps included in BSE. Still, they referred to being "unsure" related to specific BSE steps such as squeezing the nipples and the frequency of performing BSE. Almost 70% of the students said they rarely or never perform BSE. Overall, females were more knowledgeable than males about BSE. These results suggest that activities related to breast health promotion can be implemented on campus to improve breast awareness.
