Awareness and knowledge regarding of cervical cancer, Pap smear screening and human papillomavirus infection in Gabonese women

Abstract

BackgroundCervical cancer is the commonest cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality in women in Gabon. The age-standardized incidence of cervical cancer is 19.9 per 100 000 women and the mortality rate is 8.4 per 100 000. Various international studies have identified the lack of awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer as barriers to use preventive methods. This article assesses the awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer, Pap smear testing and its use and HPV among women living in Libreville, Gabon.MethodsThis study was conducted in October 2014 in Libreville. A total of 452 women aged 16 years and above were recruited from different town locations. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the effect of demographic characteristics on the level of knowledge about cervical cancer, Pap smear testing and HPV. Odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were used to identify the strength of association. Associations were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05.ResultsOf all the women interviewed, 91.6% (414/452) had heard about cervical cancer and only 27.9% (126/452) had heard of Pap smear test. Of these 126 women, only 65.1% (82/126) had done cervical cancer screening and 68.3% (56/82) on the suggestion of a doctor. The most common reason for not undergoing Pap smear testing was neglect (50%, 22/44) followed by lack of financial resources (13.6%, 6/44), fear of discovering a serious disease (13.6%, 6/44) and deeming it unimportant (13.6%, 6/44). Only 8% (40/452) of the participants had heard about HPV and their knowledge of HPV was fair. There is a very poor level of knowledge about cervical cancer among Gabonese women.ConclusionThis study demonstrates a very low level of knowledge about cervical cancer, Pap smear testing and HPV in a sample of Gabonese women. There is a critical need for Gabonese women to be informed about cervical cancer and the Pap smear test to improve the use of this preventive method. The implication of health staff and Gabonese media should be included as a centerpiece in the effort to inform the population in order to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Gabon and save women lives.

Knowledge about cervical cancer and barriers toward cervical cancer screening among HIV‐positive women attending public health centers in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia

“…We found less than one-tenth and a third of the study participants mentioned vaccination and screening, respectively, as preventive measures for cervical cancer. These findings were comparable to those from Nigeria and Gabon [30,31]. According to a review of cancer screening in 57 countries, screening rate prevalence is <1% in Ethiopia, although screening all women in the target age group every 3 years is estimated to prevent 91% of cases [9].…”

<p>Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women and Associated Factors in Hospitals of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia</p>

“…It was congruent with the survey done in Kathmandu Nepal which was 15 but slightly higher than a similar study in Northwest Ethiopia, Gabon, Tanzania. [16][17][18] This could be due to the variation in study setting. Of respondents 45.5% had good knowledge about risk factors for cervical cancer, which was less than the 73.5% finding in a Saudi Arabia study which was conducted among reproductive-age women (35).…”

Attitudes and factors affecting acceptability of self-administered cervicovaginal sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping as an alternative to Pap testing among multiethnic Malaysian women

“…This is also the most commonly cited reason in other countries such as Turkey, Bangladesh, Gabon and Korea. [26][27][28][29] Therefore, increasing awareness of and education about cervical cancer screening is necessary and independent of the modality of screening. While selfswabs and other self-sampling devices have been examined and reported to be reliable 6 and not inferior to specimens obtained by physicians, 30 it is necessary to investigate the perception and acceptability of selfsampling among multiethnic Malaysian women, especially potential users who have never undergone Pap testing.…”