Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening: An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Non-Medical Students of Ebonyi State University, Nigeria
Nwafor N. Bafford
*
Department of Internal Medicine, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria.
Orji N. Jim
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Obi M. Adaobi
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Anyanwu Prisca. I
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Alo Stephen N.
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Utah Francisca U.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
Okpata F. Chileka
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Akaje Salamat A.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
Akuma G. Onyinyechi
Institute of Human Virology, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria.
Okafor Peace O.
Department of Internal Medicine, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Keke Chukwuemeka O.
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Okorie I. Valerie
Department of Internal Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Nwakpa F. Nnabuife
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe state, Ngeria.
Onu Stella N.
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Medical Center, Asaba, Nigeria.
Akhaine J. Precious
Department of Surgery, Edo Specialist Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Cervical cancer primarily develops as a result of a persistent infection with high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV). It can affect women at any stage during their reproductive years and it has been observed over time that most women that are not medically inclined especially those in low income areas of the world have not fully gotten a grasp of the screening. The primary goal of cervical cancer screening is to detect precancerous changes in the cervix before they progress to cancer.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical screening tests uptake among non-medical students of Ebonyi State University.
Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 female non-medical students across 3 departments of the university using semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire. A multistage sampling technique was employed. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23.0 software for descriptive statistics.
Results: The study showed that respondents had poor knowledge of cervical cancer, although most of them correctly identified cervical cancer as a preventable disease. Participants also agreed that the screening was poor, since most (72.8%) scored poorly on the knowledge score. On a positive note, the study showed that participants had good attitude towards cervical cancer screening as many (88.8%) opined that the screening is very important, that cervical cancer can be prevented through screening (88.8%) and accept to be screened.
Conclusion: From this study, it was ascertained that there was evidence of poor knowledge and uptake of screening services notwithstanding, there was positive attitude towards the screening despite participants expressing concerns on several factors which cut across cultural, financial and social backgrounds that could be of significant limitation.
Keywords: Cervical cancer, screening, human papilloma virus, non-medical, students