Awareness and Practice of Cervical Cancer Screening among Women Accessing Care in a Rural Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

Background. The burden of cervical cancer is on the increase, especially in developing countries, where programmed or regular screening for the disease with Papanicolaou smear is inadequate. The objective was to determine the awareness and practice of cervical cancer screening in a rural tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Methodology. 220 consecutive and consenting women of age 20–70years attending Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti and Comprehensive Health Centre, Oke-Isa, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State were recruited between April and August 2009. Relevant data were collected using interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaires. Results. Mean age ± SD of participants was 41.2 ± 12.6 years and mean age at sexual debut was 20 years. Twenty three (10.7%) participants were single and all were sexually active. 147 (68.4%) had more than one life time sexual partner. 78 (36.3%) of participants were aware of cervical cancer but only 39(18.2%) were aware of its screening, and majority (71.8%) got to know about cervical cancer through health workers. Increasing age, multiple sexual partners, parity more than 4, having a partner who has multiple sexual partners and polygamy were significantly associated with development of pre-malignant lesions for cervical cancer in this study. Conclusion. Majority of the participants were not aware of CC and the steps to be taken to prevent it from occurring. This poses a tremendous health education challenge.