Knowledge and attitudes of healthcare professionals working in a training and research hospital on early diagnosis of cervical cancer (a Somalia example): cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Despite the early diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer, it is still a significant public health problem in Somalia. This study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of healthcare professionals towards the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Methods This study was conducted in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, between December 2020 and February 2021. The cross-sectional study consisted of a total of 280 healthcare professionals. The study data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of 38 questions evaluating the knowledge and attitudes of all healthcare professionals towards the early diagnosis of cervical cancer, an additional 15 questions for women only, and a total of 43 questions. Results 22.1% of the participants received cervical cancer training during vocational education and training. Cervical cancer education after graduation is 16.8%, and the rate of providing education to patients is only 29.6%. The rate of female healthcare professionals having a Pap smear test is 2%. The participants' cervical cancer total knowledge score was 16.5 ± 6.69, and the success rate was 63.46. The highest success rate in knowledge subgroup questions was HPV questions with 69.6. A statistically significant difference was found between the participants' profession, training on the subject during their vocational education, and total knowledge scores (p < 0.001). When the knowledge question subscales were compared, a significant difference was found between participants' gender and HPV questions subscale score (p = 0.028). A statistically significant difference was found between the participants' professions, receiving training on the subject during vocational training, and all subscales (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between the participants' income status and risk factors questions scores (p = 0.026). Conclusion This study shows that the knowledge and training of healthcare professionals working in a training and research hospital in Somalia for early cervical cancer diagnosis are not sufficient. In addition, it reveals that female healthcare professionals have almost no Pap smears. Therefore, studies and training should be planned to train all healthcare professionals, especially female healthcare professionals, and overcome all possible obstacles to the acceptance of the screening tests by women.

Implementation of cervical cancer prevention and screening across five tertiary hospitals in Nepal and its policy implications: A mixed-methods study

“…The low coverage of formal training activities among health professionals could have led to low screening among women in this study. A study from Somalia showed that only 22.1% of the participants had cervical cancer training during their pre-service education and 16.8% in-service training after graduation [ 46 ]. In contrast, the study from Turkey indicated that nearly 75% of the health professionals had training as part of their pre-service education, and almost 67% had in-service training on cervical cancer after their graduation [ 47 ].…”

Nivel de conocimiento del médico serums sobre el dominio académico, diagnóstico y técnico para la prevención temprana del cáncer de cuello uterino

“…Otros estudios concuerdan con nuestros resultados y describen que el conocimiento sobre signos y síntomas y factores de riesgo de cáncer de cuello uterino, fue adecuado entre los profesionales de la salud (28)(29)(30). Sin embargo, otros estudios encontraron que el personal de salud tenían escaso conocimiento del cáncer de cuello uterino como enfermedad (31,32) y la formación de los profesionales sanitarios que trabajan en el sector salud para el diagnóstico precoz del cáncer de cuello uterino no son suficientes (33). Estas diferencias pueden deberse a las políticas de Fuente: encuesta aplicada, *= Prueba U de Mann-Whitney salud, presupuesto destinado las capacitaciones y motivación por seguir aprendiendo por parte del personal de salud.…”