Women’s knowledge of and attitudes toward cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening in Zanzibar, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among women in Tanzania. Knowledge of and willingness to receive a cervical cancer screening are important determinants of prevention. This study aimed to describe women's awareness of cervical cancer and to explore the attitudes toward, acceptability of and barriers to cervical cancer screening (CCS) in Zanzibar. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2018 involving 1483 women from 10 districts in Zanzibar who responded to questionnaires concerning their general demo-graphic characteristics, screening willingness and awareness of cervical cancer. Chi-square tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and stepwise multiple regression were conducted using STATA 15.1 software. Results: The average total knowledge score (TKS) was 7.84±5.32 on a 23-point scale. Educational level and family income were positively correlated with the TKS. Previous schistosomiasis history and family genetic disease history were strong predictors of screening willingness. Women were less likely to be screened freely if they had 7 or more deliveries and were unaware of any previous family tumor history. Age and educational level were negatively associated non-free screening willingness, while family income was positively associated; being divorced/widowed or single and being unaware of any previous family tumor history were predictors of screening reluctance, while previous disease history was a strong predictor of non-free screening willingness. Fear of screening and inconvenience were the primary concerns among the Zanzibari interviewees. Compared to the 20-49 age group, more women in the less than 20 and 50 or more age groups thought cervical cancer screening was not necessary. The highest rate of cognitive accuracy in regard to cervical cancer warning signs and risk factors was only 37.76%. Conclusions: The findings revealed that knowledge of cervical cancer was poor. Educational level, family income and awareness of previous disease history were significant influencing factors of screening uptake. Specific awareness programs to increase knowledge of cervical cancer and screening willingness should be designed and implemented in the public without delay, especially for younger and elderly women. Keywords: Knowledge, Cervical cancer, Screening, Zanzibar

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Women’s knowledge and attitudes toward cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening in Zanzibar, Tanzania: a cross- sectional study

10.21203/rs.2.14008/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Qiao Weng ◽

Jie Jiang ◽

Fatma Mrisho Haji ◽

Lamlet Hassan Nondo ◽

Huaijun Zhou

Keyword(s):

Cervical Cancer ◽

Cancer Screening ◽

Cervical Cancer Screening ◽

Family Income ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Education Level ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Screening Uptake ◽

Previous Disease

Abstract Background: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among women in Tanzania. Knowledge and willingness of cervical cancer screening are important determinants of prevention services. This study aimed to describe women's awareness about cervical cancer and to explore the attitudes, acceptability and barriers toward cervical cancer screening in Zanzibar, Tanzania, in order to help organizing the forthcoming China-Zanzibar cervical cancer screening program. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2018, involving 1483 women who responded to questionnaires concerning general demographic characteristics, screening willingness and awareness of cervical cancer from 10 districts in Zanzibar. Chi-square tests, analysis of variance, rank sum tests and stepwise multiple regression were conducted using STATA 15.0 software. Results : The average Total Knowledge Scores(TKS) was 7.83±5.32 on a 23 scale. Education level and family income were positively correlated with TKS (Coef=1.075, 95% CI=0.687-1.462 and Coef=0.810, 95% CI=0.262-1.358 respectively). Previous schistosomiasis history (OR = 24.140, 95% CI= 3.306-176.266) and family genetic disease history (OR = 3.140, 95% CI= 1.644-5.997) were strong predictors of free screening. Women were less likely to be screened freely if they had 7 or more deliveries (OR = 0.300, 95% CI= 0.150-0.598) and were unknown about previous family tumor history (OR = 0.381, 95% CI= 0.218-0.665). As for non-free screening, age and education level were negatively associated while family income was positively associated with willingness to uptake non-free screening; divorced or widowed marriage and unawareness about previous family tumor history were predictors of reluctance to screening while previous disease history was the strong predictor of non-free screening uptake. Among 129 women who were reluctant and 50 who were uncertain to participate in the free screening, 51.4% thought it was unnecessary, 18.44% showed obvious fear and 20.67% were worrying about extra infection. Conclusions: The findings revealed that the knowledge of cervical cancer was poor. Education level, family income and awareness of previous disease history were the significant influencing factors of screening uptake. Specific awareness programs to increase knowledge and willingness to uptake screening should be designed and implemented in the public without delay.

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Clinical evaluation of p16 INK4a immunocytology in cervical cancer screening: A population‐based cross‐sectional study from rural China

Cancer Cytopathology ◽

10.1002/cncy.22428 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Remila Rezhake ◽

Yan Wang ◽

Feng Chen ◽

Shang‐Ying Hu ◽

Xun Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cervical Cancer ◽

Cancer Screening ◽

Cervical Cancer Screening ◽

Clinical Evaluation ◽

Rural China ◽

Population Based ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

P16 Ink4a

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Knowledge, attitude and practices on cervical cancer screening among undergraduate female students in University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia: an institution based cross sectional study

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10853-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alem Getaneh ◽

Birhanemeskel Tegene ◽

Teshome Belachew

Keyword(s):

Cervical Cancer ◽

Cancer Screening ◽

Cervical Cancer Screening ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Female Students ◽

Favorable Attitude ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Undergraduate Female ◽

The University

Abstract Background Cervical cancer is a major public health problem. In the world, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women and it is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in females. It is the second most common women cancer in Ethiopia with almost 6300 new cases and 4884 deaths annually. Despite the high burden of new cases and deaths, there is a scarcity of data on knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards cervical cancer screening among female university students in Ethiopia particularly in the study area. Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the KAP of undergraduate female students towards cervical cancer screening. Methods An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2018 at the University of Gondar, College of Medicine and Health Sciences undergraduate female students. Pretested, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Four hundred and three female students were recruited by a simple random sampling method and the data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20 statistical packages. Descriptive data analysis was used to report the results. Results More than half of the respondents (59.3.3%) had good knowledge, whereas nearly 67.7% of the respondents had favorable attitude towards cervical cancer. However, less than 1% of the respondents had been screened for cervical cancer. Conclusion Although undergraduate female students had apparently good knowledge and favorable attitude, their practices on cervical cancer screening were quite low. Therefore, the health sectors and the gender streaming office of the university mobilize students to strengthen the uptake the cervical cancer screening practice.

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