ABSTRACT
Introduction: Carcinoma of the cervix is a major public health problem throughout the world. It is the second most common malignancy in women worldwide. However, it is the most common cancer in women in the third world; where over three quarters of the estimated half a million newly diagnosed cases occur annually, and it continues to be a serious health problem. In Nigeria, cervical cancer is the commonest gynecological cancer.
Cancer of the cervix is a very important condition, no form of cancer better documents the remarkable effects of prevention, early diagnosis, and curative therapy on the mortality rate than it does. Cervical cancer is curable when detected early and knowledge about early warning signs and symptoms is crucial for early diagnosis and prompt treatment.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer screening amongst women of child bearing age attending ante-natal clinic in Garki Hospital Abuja,.
Methodology: The study was carried amongst 215 respondents were selected using systemic sampling technique for selection. Pre-tested self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Data was and analyzed with IBM SPSS version 22.0 software. Knowledge was scored in percentages and graded as good and poor. The association between socio-demographic variables and knowledge of cervical cancer and its screening, attitude and practice amongst respondents was analyzed using chi squared test and fisher’s exact test where applicable. Binary logistic regression was carried out to further determine significant predictors of knowledge of cervical cancer and its screening, attitude and practice amongst respondents studied. The level of significant was set at p < 0.05.
Results: Mean age of the respondents was 31.1±5.30 years, and most of them are educated (94.4%), married (89.5%) with children (66.3%). The respondents were dominated by Ibo (30.8%), Yoruba (14.0%) and Hausa (12.1%) tribe. About (50.8%) of the respondents had good knowledge of cervical cancer while (84.2%) have knowledge of cervical cancer screening. The source of information about cervical cancer and its prevention came from the health workers, and mass media. More than half of the respondents showed a positive attitude toward cervical cancer screening (69.2%) but there was a poor uptake to the screening practice (16.2%). The major factors influencing the screening practices are not been refereed by the doctor to go for the screening test (38.3%), no reason (28.1%), lack of awareness of the screening test(11.9%) , unavailability of the screening center (17.5%), Good knowledge of cervical cancer was higher among respondents in the age groups 30 - 39 years (57.8%) and 20 - 29 years (45.3%) and least among those in the age groups of 15 - 19 years (0.0%) and 40 - 45 years (10.0%), and this association was statistically significant. (p = 0.007). On the other hand, good knowledge of cervical cancer prevention was higher among respondents in the age groups 40 - 45 years (100.0%), followed by 30 - 39 years (85.3%) and 20 - 29 years (80.7%) and least among those in the age groups of 15 - 19 years (0.0%). This study also showed that Respondents who had good knowledge of cervical cancer (89.4%) had a higher level of cervical cancer prevention more than respondents who had a poor knowledge of cervical cancer (78.3%), and this association was statistically significant. (p = 0.044).
Conclusion: This study identified that the overall knowledge of respondents regarding cervical cancer was fair as 50.8% of the respondents had good knowledge while more than four-fifth of the respondents had a good knowledge of cervical cancer prevention. It was also discovered that more than half of the respondent have a positive attitude toward cervical cancer screening. This study identified that less than one-fifth of the respondents have ever undergone screening for cervical cancer. This study also identified that Respondent desire to know their pre-malignant status and advice from a doctor or a friend was the main reason given for having a cervical cancer screening in this study while lack of recommendation from the doctor and lack of interest and awareness of the screening test were the main reasons given for non-utilization of the cervical cancer screening test.
Keywords: Cervical cancer, Women, Child bearing age, Antenatal clinic.
