Utilisation and Perceptions of Cervical Cancer Screening Services (original) (raw)
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Journal of Global Health Science
Background: The leading cause of cancer-related fatalities among women worldwide is cervical cancer. Lack of awareness and availability of screening services in Nigeria contribute to the high incidence and fatality rates of cervical cancer. This study assesses the knowledge of cervical cancer, risk factors, and barriers to screening among reproductive women in Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among women of reproductive age in Shao, Moro local government area of Kwara State, Nigeria, to determine their knowledge about cervical cancer, risk factors, and barriers to screening. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Results: A total of 326 women between the ages of 15-50 were included in the study, with the majority being married (56.1%) and having secondary school education (43.6%). Twohundred seventy-one (83.1%) participants were aware of cervical cancer, but only 39.0% had good knowledge of the disease. Two hundred forty-three (74.5%) women were sexually active and 70% did not use condoms during sexual activity. Only 6.9% of the participants had ever been screened for cervical cancer, with 38.0% being unaware of the screening. The results showed that there was a statistically significant (P<0.001) association between the knowledge of the respondents and selected risk factors for cervical cancer such as sexual activity, previous sexually transmitted infection diagnosis, contraceptive usage, and abnormal bleeding. Conclusion: This study indicates poor knowledge of cervical cancer and that targeted health education campaigns are required to increase awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer among reproductive women in Nigeria. Efforts should also be made to improve access to cervical cancer screening services, especially in rural and underserved areas.
BMC Public Health, 2019
Background: The burden of cervical cancer continues to rise in developing economies. Women in the sub-Saharan African region have higher chances of developing cervical cancer due to a greater prevalence of related risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of health education intervention on cervical cancer and screening perceptions of women in the Komenda, Edina, Eguafo, and Abirem (K.E.E.A) District in the Central Region of Ghana. Methods: A non-equivalent control-group design was used to select church women; 396 in the intervention group and 386 in the control group, aged 11 to 70 years in the K.E.E.A District in the Central Region of Ghana. Data was collected via a validated structured interview schedule and analysed using the paired-and independent-samples t-tests, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: A comparison of the mean differences between the pre-post-test scores for the intervention and control groups showed a statistically significant difference for knowledge of cervical cancer (t = 6.22, df = 780, p = 0.001), knowledge of cervical cancer screening (t = 5.96, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived seriousness (t = 3.36, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived benefits (t = 9.19, df = 780, p = 0.001), and perceived barriers (t = 3.19, df = 780, p = 0.001). However, perceived susceptibility for the intervention group reduced, evidenced by a decrease in the mean (mean = − 0.12) compared to the control group (mean = 0.93) and this was statistically significant (t = 2.72, df = 780, p = 0.007). Conclusions: Health education interventions are critical in improving knowledge and perceptions, and increasing selfefficacy of women about cervical cancer and screening.
Reproductive Health, 2012
Background: Over the years awareness and uptake of cervical cancer screening services has remained poor in developing countries. Problems associated with cervical cancer incidence include late reporting, ignorance and cultural issues relating to cervical cancer screening. This study sought to explore the awareness, perception and utilization of cervical cancer screening among women in Ibadan as well as factors that influence utilization. Method: This is a qualitative study that utilized Eight Focus Group Discussions to collect information from women in selected health facilities in Ibadan, South West, Nigeria. The 82 participants were purposely recruited from women attending Antenatal clinics in 4 secondary and 4 primary health care facilities after approval was received from the Institutional Review Board in charge of the facilities. The focus group discussions were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analyzed into themes. Findings: The study provided qualitative information on the awareness, perception of the utilization of cervical cancer screening services among women in Ibadan. Participants were mainly married women (92.7%), mean age =27.6, SD =4.5, mainly traders (39%) and from Yoruba ethnic backgrounds (87.8%) and had secondary education (39%). The respondents reported not being aware of cervical cancer and were not utilizing the services. Though they did not know what cervical cancer screening entailed or the screening methods, they still believed that it is important since like for other diseases will help in early detection and treatment. The participants were eager to get more information from nurses on cervical cancer about cervical cancer screening. The major factors identified by the women that influence screening utilization were ignorance, Illiteracy, belief in not being at risk, having many contending issues, nonchalant attitude to their health, financial constraint and fear of having a positive result. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for more enlightenment about cervical cancer especially by health workers. Also, cervical cancer services should be made available at very affordable cost so that women can easily access the services in order to reduce incidence of invasive cancer.
Knowledge and Usage of Cervical Cancer Screening for Cancer Prevention by Reproductive Age Women
Global Journal of Health Science
Cervical cancer –CCa screening is an effective measure mapped out for preventing cancer occurrences in women. This study determined the status of knowledge and usage of CCa screening for cancer prevention among reproductive age Nigerian women. The study was based on descriptive research design and was conducted in Nigeria, from October 2017 to April 2018 and comprised of reproductive age women. The participants, aged 15-49 years, were vulnerable to CCa. The instrument used for data collection was structured questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Science version 21 was used for data analysis. All the participants were Nigerians totalling 1300. Of all, 1249(96.1%) completed the questionnaire correctly. Majority of the participants were: Christians 825(66.0%), Single 695(55.6%), aged 26-35 years 673(53.8%), and had Secondary education 753(60.2%). A greater proportion of the participants 1073(86.7%) knew about CCa screening. Among them, only 513(41.7%) were screened. The status o...
Annals of African Medicine, 2012
Background: Cervical cancer is the most common genital tract malignancy among women in developing countries. Objective: To assess the awareness of cervical cancer among Igbo women in a rural population of Southeastern Nigerian and determine their uptake of cervical screening services. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study. Structured questionnaires were administered to female attendees to the antenatal and gynecological clinics of a secondary hospital in the outskirts of Afikpo, Southeast Nigeria over a six-month period (1 st July to 31 st December 2007). Data analysis was by SPSS. Results: Five hundred questionnaires were given out. Three hundred and sixty were correctly filled (72%) and analyzed. The mean age of respondents was 36.2 years, 25.0% had tertiary education and 40.3% were self employed. All the respondents were sexually active. There were high incidences of premarital sex, multiple sexual partners and abnormal vaginal discharge and low condom use. Awareness of cervical cancer (37.5%), its preventable nature (31.9%), cervical screening (25%) and screening centers (20.8%) were generally low and screening uptake (0.6%) was abysmally low. Lack of awareness, non-availability of screening centers locally, cost and time were the main reasons adduced by respondents for not being screened. Overall, 62.5% of all the respondents indicated willingness to be screened. Conclusion: The exposure to conditions that predispose women to cervical cancer was high, and the levels of awareness of cervical cancer and cervical screening uptake were low. Continued awareness creation, local provision of cheap and affordable services and poverty alleviation are needed to improve cervical screening uptake with the hope of reducing the incidence of cervical cancer in the long term.
Mary Slessor Journal of Medicine, 2013
Screening for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer is a cornerstone of prevention. The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness in women about the utilization of cervical cancer screening services in Vhembe District, South Africa. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved a random selection of 500 women aged 20-59 years in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Data was collected via a self-structured questionnaire on the demographic variables, provision, utilization and awareness of cervical cancer screening services. Results: The majority of the participants agreed to have cervical cancer screening services in their clinics (79.2%), and never had a Pap smear (58.6%). Most women would not go for cervical cancer screening, mainly because of a lack of facilities (30.0%), fear of pain (24.4%), and embarrassment (15.2%). Most participants indicated that Pap smear test meant scraping the cervix to detect abnormal cancerous cells (39.2%) and 34.2% did not know a Pap smear. Majority of the participants indicated Pap smears should be done every 10 years (65.8%); Pap smears could detect cervical cancer earlier (66.8%), and had heard about cervical cancer (71.6%). The majority of the participants considered cervical cancer as a serious problem to warrant considerable attention (59.4%); and some perceived cervical cancer as transmittable through multiple sexual partners (22.2%). The majority of the participants were aware of a vaccine against cervical cancer for girls at school (69.0%), and it was indicated that government should use health education to encourage women to attend cervical screening services (51.6%). Conclusion: Despite the free availability of cervical cancer screening services and awareness, the utilization of cervical cancer screening services is low. There is a need to intensify cervical screening health talks and campaigns, and to provide alternative accessible options for screening services for women in rural areas.
Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare, 2016
Cervical cancer remains a major public health concern in developing countries including Kenya, where it is currently ranked the highest cause of cancer deaths. Early detection of cervical cancer using Pap smear provides an appropriate way of prevention which, would in turn lead to a decrease in incidence and mortality. This study aimed at assessing the awareness, perceptions, reproductive and sexual practices influencing uptake of cervical cancer screening among women aged 18-49 years in Njiru Sub County, Nairobi County. Two hundred and forty seven women participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and focused group discussion (FGD). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 19.0. Descriptive statistics were used to give proportions and frequencies. Pearson's chi square (χ2) was used to test for associations among variables and differences were considered statistically significant at p≤0.05. The mean age of the respondents was 30.7±1.18 years. Most (32%), of the respondents were aged 25-29 years. Majority (96.4%) of the respondents in this study were Christians and most (68%) of them were married. Approximately fifty percent of the study respondents had primary level education followed by secondary (38.9%), tertiary (8.9%) and no formal education 2.4%. About 46% of the respondents were self-employed. Approximately eighty five percent (211/247) of the study respondents were aware of cervical cancer and had commonly (36.4%) obtained their information from media followed by health talks (34.8 %). Of those who were aware 25.6% (54/211) reported cervical cancer to be caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Most 43.6% (41/94) of the respondents who had ever been screened perceived the cervical screening procedures as uncomfortable followed by 24.5% (23/94) who perceived it as embarrassing. Majority 52.1% (49/94) of those who had been screened reported to have not received any support from their partners. More than ninety percent 94.7% reported that cervical cancer screening was very useful in the prevention of cervical cancer. The factors associated with uptake of cervical cancer screening were awareness (p≤0.035), opinion about cervical screening (p≤0.000), cervical screening usefulness (p≤0.006), frequency of having cervical screening done (p≤0.000) and partner support (p≤0.000). There is need to improve public awareness by educating women on the risk factors associated with cervical cancer and benefits of cervical screening through health talks and promotions, mass media awareness. Health professionals and healthcare workers should take the opportunity to educate and encourage women attending health facilities for other health problems to undergo cervical cancer screening. There is need to include men in education on cervical cancer especially sexual partners/ spouses so that they can encourage their spouses/partners in terms of moral and material support to increase the uptake of cervical cancer screening.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2022
Background: Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer among women in developing countries. Despite all public health measures, the death rate from the disease in Nigeria continues to increase. Uptake of cervical cancer screening services in Nigeria is very low hence, this study sought to determine the factors inuencing this, among women of reproductive age in Calabar Municipality. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to assess the factors inuencing the uptake of available cervical cancer screening services in Calabar, Cross River State. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 450 women of reproductive age, selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Results: Twenty-eight (6.2%) respondents had utilized available cervical cancer screening services out of which 10 (35.7%) utilized the services within the 6 months preceding the survey and 8 (28.6%) utilized the services between the 6-12 months preceding the survey. Poor awareness about the availability of screening services (45.3%), low risk perception (6.0%), poor knowledge of where to access services (18.5%) and nancial constraint (11.6%) were factors that inuenced the use of cervical cancer screening services. Age, marital status and occupation were found to be signicantly associated with screening service utilization (p<0.05) at bivariate level but only age was signicant in the multivariate model. Conclusion: There is need for health education to raise awareness and other interventions that could address socioeconomic challenges that impede the utilization of cervical cancer screening services.
Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention: APJCP
The objectives of the study were to describe women's perceived benefits regarding cervical cancer and their association with socio-demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted by questionnaire survey. A total of 300 participants were selected by convenience sampling techniques. Participants' mean age was 37 years (SD=11) and their cervical cancer screening rate was 39%. The majority (87%) either agreed or strongly agreed that screening is important to be done, while 75% believed screening could find changes in the cervix before full cancer arises and 84% that when found early cervical cancer can be easily cured. Comparing between ever screened and never screened, both groups agreed or strongly agreed that screening is important (88.8% versus 87.3%), and can find changes before they become cancer (83% versus 69.8%) and that cervical cancer is easily curable when detected early (92.4% versus 79.5%). Some 42.4% ever screened and 36.1% never ...