Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of Cervical Cancer Prevention among Student Health Professionals in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed gynecological cancer affecting women worldwide. It is a preventable disease but still remains a leading cause of cancer deaths in developing countries like Nigeria despite the availability of preventive strategies. Undergraduate pharmacy and medical students are future health care providers who can help raise awareness and improve the knowledge of the public towards cervical cancer, its screening, prevention and treatment. The study sought to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice of cervical cancer screening and prevention.
 Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional survey using questionnaire conducted in the University of Nigeria and Nnamdi Azikiwe University both in South-eastern Nigeria. Participants were conveniently sampled and the self-administered questionnaire was given to 335 consenting female pharmacy and medicine undergraduate students.
 Results: 335 out of the 350 undergraduate students approached responded (95.7 % response rate). The result of the study shows that the students generally had a good level of awareness of cervical cancer. The students surveyed had a mean knowledge score of 75.9062±20.265. More than a third (36.1%, n = 214) of the students had a negative attitude towards cervical cancer. Only about one in eight students reported to have had a pap smear (12.54%, n = 42).
 Conclusion: The students generally had a good awareness and knowledge of cervical cancer which was not translated into practice. There is a need to include public health principles into the curriculum of Pharmacy and Medical schools in Nigeria since they are future health advisors.

Knowledge and attitudes of Nigerian final-year pharmacy students towards genital warts and practice regarding human papillomavirus vaccine: A cross-sectional study

“…Given that the Nigerian 6-3-3-4 educational system mandates a minimum age of 16 for university enrolment, this result was expected. Consistent with several other studies among undergraduates, the vast majority of participants in the current study were also single (94.5%) (Amukugo et al, 2018;Anene-Okeke et al, 2019;Shetty et al, 2019).…”

“…More than half of the participants claimed to have never had sex, consistent with the results of similar research among undergraduate Nigerian students (Anene-Okeke et al, 2019). In contrast, findings from a study among Namibian undergraduates showed that most respondents were sexually active (Amukugo et al, 2018).…”

“…Knowledge, attitudes, and practices are essential factors that significantly influence the behaviours of individuals (Amukugo et al, 2018). Undergraduate pharmacy students represent the future of the medical field and may play a crucial role in educating the public about HPV and its screening, prevention, and treatment options (Anene-Okeke et al, 2019). Studies have shown that while knowledge of HPV among these students is moderately high, practice pertaining to HPV prevention is generally low (Amukugo et al, 2018;Anene-Okeke et al, 2019;Oluwole et al, 2019).…”

“…Undergraduate pharmacy students represent the future of the medical field and may play a crucial role in educating the public about HPV and its screening, prevention, and treatment options (Anene-Okeke et al, 2019). Studies have shown that while knowledge of HPV among these students is moderately high, practice pertaining to HPV prevention is generally low (Amukugo et al, 2018;Anene-Okeke et al, 2019;Oluwole et al, 2019). Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and attitudes of Nigerian final-year pharmacy students towards genital warts and their practices regarding the human papillomavirus vaccine.…”

The effectiveness of a model-based health education program on genital warts preventive behaviors: a quasi-experimental study

“…This was consistent with other studies showing that women’s awareness of cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination was low before the intervention [ 37 – 39 ]. Still, some other studies showed divergent findings as they reported a high level of awareness of cervical cancer and Pap test administration among women [ 40 , 41 ]. These contradictory findings can be explained by participants’ different demographic information, as Aweke et al included educated women in their research, whose knowledge and awareness were certainly higher than the average population.…”