Multiparity and Breast Cancer Risk Factor among Women in Burkina Faso

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Résumé

The relative lack of information on breast cancer etiology in Burkina Faso led us to undertake the present work to highlight risk factors. This prospective study was conducted using a questionnaire between January 2015 and February 2016 on women admitted to Yalgado OUEDRAOGO hospital, for consultation or supervision. The characteristics of multiparous breast cancer patients (n = 44) were compared with their non-multiparous counterparts (n = 36). The study found that increased risk of breast cancer among non-multiparous cases was related to body mass index (BMI) (p <0.001), age at menopause (p <0.004) and use of oral contraception (p <0.021) while abortion (p <0.002) was a risk factor among multiparous cases. These results suggest that even if multiparity is associated with a decreased risk in some women, avoidance of abortion during reproductive life should be recommended. The results provide preliminary information, which now need to be supplemented by survey of a larger sample in the national territory.

Mots-clés

breast cancer, multiparity, parity, breast cancer risk factors, body mass index, age at menopause, oral contraception, abortion, women's health, Burkina Faso