Cervical Cancer Screening Practice Among Reproductive-Age Women Attending at Makongoro Reproductive and Child Health Clinic.
- Mwanza, Tanzania | Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS-Bugando] | 2024.
- 48 Pages Includes References
Abstract:
Introduction: Cervical cancer is a significant health issue globally, with high incidence in low and middle- income countries, in particularly in sub–Saharan African (SSA). Tanzania ranks fourth highest incidence rate of cervical cancer in the world with 59.1 new cases per 100000The WHO urges all sub-Sahara African countries to perform Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) approach for cervical cancer screening among women of reproductive age, but the uptake of screening is still low, so this study aimed to determine cervical cancer screening practice among reproductive age women attending at makongoro reproductive and child health clinic (RCH)
Methodology: this was a cross-sectional study that was conducted among reproductive age women that were attending RCH clinic. Data were collected using the semi-structured closed ended questionnaires through interviewing the patients and analyzed using SPSS v20, Ethical clearance was sought before commencement of this study.
Results: A total of 150 participants were included in this study. More than half of the participants (69.3%) had age between 20-39 years of age. More than three quarter of the participants did not screen against cervical cancer. Reason for not screening for most participants (56.7%) was having limited information. Nearly all the study participants (98.7%) heard about cervical cancer. More than three quarter (78%) have heard about cervical cancer screening, but more than half (54.7%) do not know if vaccine is available for prevention. None of the study participants had received HPV vaccination.
Conclusion: Knowledge of cervical cancer among reproductive age women is good but practice towards screening is still low. Intervention is needed from the government and all concerned bodies to increase awareness and practice of cervical cancer screening service
Wurzburg Road 35, Premises, Post Code: 33102 | P. O. Box 1464 Mwanza, Tanzania | Phone: (255) 28-298-3384 | Fax: (255) 28-298-3386 | Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz | Website: www.bugando.ac.tz.