Assessment of Awareness and Attitude on Cervical Cancer Prevention among Female Preparatory Students in Ziway town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Background: Early-stage cervical cancer diagnoses may be the consequence of timely medical care in the presence of symptoms which can be linked to awareness of the symptoms and risk factors. This study aims to determine the knowledge about risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer and associated factors among women aged 20-49 years. Methods: Data were utilized from the survey under the intervention “ Increasing access to cervical cancer screening and care through the community-centric continuum of care initiative in India ” (2015). The sample size was 1,020 women in the age group of 20-49 years. Descriptive statistics, along with bivariate analysis, was done to represent the preliminary results. Multivariable regression analysis was used to represent the estimates. Results: About 40.1% [Delhi: 56.9% and Rohtak: 20.4%] and 45.5% [Delhi: 52.2% and Rohtak: 37.7%] of respondents had good knowledge about risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer, respectively. Respondents with primary educational status had an 86% significantly higher likelihood for good knowledge about identified risk factors of cervical cancer [ adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.86; CI: 1.12-3.10]. Respondents who were married or widowed/divorced/separated had significantly higher odds for good knowledge about identified risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer in reference to respondents who were never married. Respondents from Rohtak had 72% and 35% significantly higher odds for good knowledge about identified risk factors [aOR:0.28; CI: 0.21,0.39] and symptoms [aOR:0.65; CI: 0.48,0.88] of cervical cancer, respectively, in reference to respondents from Delhi. Conclusion: Overall awareness about cervical cancer and Human papillomavirus (HPV) as the causative agent was low, more so in Rohtak. This is extremely worrisome as blocking HPV infection is one of the most effective ways to prevent cervical cancer. Moreover, the knowledge about the risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer is also inadequate, particularly in women from Rohtak.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Women’s Knowledge on Cervical Cancer Risk Factors and Symptoms: A Cross Sectional Study from Urban India

Garg

Srivastava

Shumayla

et al. 2022

“…Brazil has the highest HNSCC incidence rate among South American countries, with an estimated risk of 10.69 new cases per 100,000 men and 3.71 per 100,000 women, the fifth and 13 th most frequent causes of neoplasm, among all cancers respectively (Sung et al, 2021). To understand university students' knowledge of HPV and its relationship with HNSCC, especially oral cancer, we found data indicating that students had gaps in their knowledge of the viral relationship with these neoplasms, a fact already observed in other studies (Luz et al, 2014;Silva et al, 2017aSilva et al, , 2017bBurlamaqui et al, 2017;Costa et al, 2017;Kifle et al, 2020;Saleemet al, 2021). Some studies have shown university students' poor knowledge on the relation virus which causes genital warts in both men and women positively influenced knowledge of the viral relationship and the emergence of HNSCCs including oral cancer.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

University Students’ Knowledge about the Relation between Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Head and Neck and Oral Cancers

Vieira

Wendt

Ferreto

et al. 2022

Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world. It affects people regardless of gender and age, causing genital warts and cancer. Objective: To evaluate university students' knowledge of HPV and its relationship with head and neck and oral cancers. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire administered to undergraduate students at a public university (n=335). Results: In total, 69.3% of the participants were unaware of the relationship between HPV and head and neck cancers and 34.6% claimed that HPV may not cause oral cancer. The chances of knowing about the relationship of HPV with head and neck cancers were significant for participants who knew that HPV could be asymptomatic (OR = 9.9; p = 0.029), that might cause genital warts in men (OR = 4.0; p = 0.015), and those aged 24 years or older (OR = 1.9; p = 0.021). However, undergraduate students in the field of health and medicine (OR = 0.419; p = 0.002), who had sex at least twice a week (OR = 0.471; p = 0.017), and were unaware of the target public for the HPV vaccine (OR: 0.222, p<0.001) were less likely to know about the relationship. Students who knew of the relationship between HPV and female (OR = 3.6; p = 0.010) and male genital warts (OR = 3.0; p = 0.005) or were immunized (OR = 1.8; p = 0.020) were more likely to understand the viral interaction with oral cancer. Those who were unaware of the population eligible for HPV vaccine (OR = 0.493; p = 0.017) also showed gaps in their knowledge of this relationship. Conclusion: Our findings showed that there were limitations in the knowledge about HPV, its vaccine, and its relationship with head and neck and oral cancers.

“…The majority of the respondents were businesswomen who probably leave their homes early for their business only to come back in the evening and may never have the opportunity of hearing about this disease except if it is brought down to churches or in meetings. This evidence is further strengthened by the result of a regional study in Ethiopia which reported that only 21% of the participants had good knowledge of cervical cancer prevention (Kifle et al, 2020). In a qualitative study on awareness, perception, and factors affecting utilization of cervical cancer screening services among women in Ibadan, the subjects verbalized that teachings on cervical cancer are not integrated into the routine talks at the hospital (Urasa, and Djay, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake among Women of an Urban Community in South-Eastern Nigeria

Ubah

Nwaneri

Anarado

et al. 2022

Objective: This survey examined the barriers to cervical cancer screening uptake by adult women in Nnewi, a town located in southeast Nigeria. Methods: In this descriptive survey, data were collected data from 379women aged between 21 and 65 years using the adapted version of the Health Belief Model Scale for Cervical Cancer and Pap smear test questionnaire. Results: The major perceived barriers to the practice of cervical cancer screening were fear of the result (2.32±1.05), lack of knowledge of what pap smear is (2.32±0.90), and lack of information about when and where pap smear could be done (2.25±1.07). The logistic regression model showed that the following perceived barriers predicted uptake of cervical cancer screening (P< 0.05): time constraint (