AWARENESS, ATTITUDE AND UTILIZATION OF CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING AMONG WOMEN USING HEALTH FACILITIES IN AKINYELE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, IBADAN, OYO STATE
Background: Cervical cancer is the second leading type of cancer affecting women worldwide. In Nigeria, newly diagnosed cases of cervical cancer are close to 30,000 annually and most of them presented to health facilities in late stages, thereby leading to poor quality of life and increased mortality. Screening could help in prevention/ early diagnosis and prompt management, but anecdotal notes points to poor utilization in Ibadan. Therefore, the study assessed awareness, attitude and utilization of cervical cancer screening services among women using selected health care facilities in Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan.
Method: A cross- sectional descriptive study was utilized for the study. Convenience sampling technique was used to select a total of 202 women who participated in the study. A validated structured questionnaire was used for data collection on attitude, awareness, utilization of cervical cancer screening and factors affecting utilization of cervical screening services. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test to determine the association between selected socio-demographics and awareness of women on cervical cancer.
Results: The mean age was 30.1± 5.3 yrs. Majority were married (91.1%), Christians (55%), moderately educated (48%) and only 31% had tertiary education. Moreover, 56.4% of the women were aware of cervical cancer screening. Age, level of education and parity had significant association with awareness (p<0.05). Also, 90.1% had not screened for cervical cancer and major factors implicated were inaccessibility (86.1%), lack of information (85.1%), and financial cost (75.2%). In addition, 53.5%, had good attitude while, marital status and parity were significantly related to it (p<0.05).
Conclusion: In spite of the moderate awareness and positive attitude, utilization of cervical cancer screening services was very low. It is therefore translated that policy makers and other stakeholders should make cervical cancer screening measures accessible.