Awareness Level of Cervical Cancer among Rural Women Attending Manikgonj 250-Bedded District Hospital, Manikgonj

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is a typically slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms, but can be early diagnosed by Pap smear and Visual Inspection of Cervix with Acetic Acid (VIA). The burden of the disease is increasing in developing countries day by day due to the ascending trend of transmissible diseases such as HIV and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
 Objective: The main aim of this study was to assess the level of awareness regarding cervical cancer among the women attending outpatient department of Manikgonj 250-bedded district hospital, Manikgonj.
 Materials and Methods: This study was conducted among the women attending the OPD of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department of Manikgonj 250-bedded district hospital from June, 2017 to October, 2017. The respondents were selected by random sampling. A pre-structured, interview-based data collection sheet was prepared, which was used as a research tool. Data were collected by interview of the patients and then data were gathered, decorated and tabulated after data cleaning and edition. Then the results were presented in tabular and figure forms. As it is a descriptive type of cross-sectional study p value determination was not required to see the level of significance.
 Results: In this study mean age of 50 respondents was 24.18 ± 6.63 years. The maximum respondents (62%) were from 20−30 years age group. Out of 50 respondents 46% were married and 24% were unmarried. Among the study subjects 84% knew about cervical cancers, 28% respondents knew about the disease from uthan boithok and 26% by electronic and print media. Thirty six percent respondents knew about the risk factors of the disease, 42 (84%) heard about the disease, 60% thought that they are at self risk and 12% respondents underwent screening before. Among those (70.45%) who did not undergo screening blamed not having adequate knowledge about the risk factors. Seventy two percent of total respondents knew that district hospital is a center for screening. Fifty percent women did not have any knowledge regarding vaccination.
 Conclusion: Majority respondents in this study did not know clearly about cervical cancer, specially its risk factors, vaccination, prevention and clinical profile of the disease.
 J Enam Med Col 2019; 9(1): 34-40

Women’s Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Cervical Cancer and Its Screening in Dhaka, Bangladesh

“…The results revealed that 87% of participants knew about cervical cancer which is consistent with the study done in Bangladesh (Rahman and Bhattacharjee, 2019;Islam et al, 2015). This result is also similar to a study conducted in Northern India where 92% of participants heard of cervical cancer (10) and in Congo it is 82% which is close to our study (Ali-Risasi et al, 2014).…”

Cervical cancer in low‐income countries: A Bangladeshi perspective

“…and lack of knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors. 15,[18][19][20] Other risk Infection with HPV spreads from one individual to another through sex, including vaginal, anal, and oral sex. In a recent study, the prevalence of HPV in both urban and rural women in Bangladesh was reported to be 7.7%.…”

“…Within Bangladeshi society, marriage at an early age and multiple births are very common. 15,20,[22][23][24] Cumulative evidence indicates that women who have their first full-term pregnancy at 17 years or younger are more likely to develop cervical cancer as compared with those who have their first full-time pregnancy at 25 years or older. 25 Women who have multiple full term pregnancies are more likely to be exposed to more frequent and unprotected intercourse, leading to higher chances of HPV infection.…”

“…Thus, awareness and education are the key issues to address prevention and treatment. 15,18,20,27,34 Currently, only 20 hospitals in Bangladesh offer cancer care, and few of these have a gynecologic cancer unit providing treatment for cervical cancer. Chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment for women with Stage IB2 to IVA disease; however, Bangladesh has a severe shortage of resources for radiation therapy.…”

Cervical cancer screening utilization and associated factors among women attending antenatal care at Asella Referral and Teaching Hospital, Arsi zone, South Central Ethiopia

“…Despite the accessibility of effective screening strategies, there were wide disparities between countries regarding coverage of Cervical Cancer screening(CCS). For example, the magnitude of CCS was 80% in Austria [ 18 ], 29.55% in Bangladesh [ 19 ], 86.6% in South India [ 20 ], and 86.4% in Nepal [ 21 ]. Likewise, the magnitude of the CCS was 88.2% in Turkey [ 22 ], 94.1% in Kashmir [ 23 ], 28% in Uganda [ 16 ], and 36% in Kenya [ 24 ].…”