Knowledge, Attitude, And Practice Towards Cervical Cancer Screening Among HIV Positive Women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: A higher prevalence of pre-cancerous and invasive cervical cancer among HIV positive population compared to their HIV negative cohorts have been documented. Ethiopia is among the world countries with high HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer prevalence. The screening practice is opportunistic and its coverage is very low. Objectives: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practice towards cervical cancer and its screening among HIV positive patients in Addis Ababa. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted among 415 HIV positive women at selected ART centers in Addis Ababa. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the data. A two-tailed t-test was used to compare the difference for the means. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were used to measure the strength of associations between independent and outcome variables. Result: The mean age of the participants was 38.6 ± 10.6 years. Ninety-six percent of the participants heard about cervical cancer but only 18.2% of the participants were reported to have good knowledge about cervical cancer and its screening. Fifty-four percent of the subjects had positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening and 49.4% the participants were screened at least once. Age above 30 years (AOR=3.41,95%CI 1.52-7.63), first-hand information about cervical cancer from health workers (AOR=1.85,95%CI 1.11-3.07), and print media (AOR=15.36,95%CI 1.82-129.56), and having positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening (AOR=3.98,95%CI 2.34-6.78) were significantly associated with the screening practice. Conclusion: The poor knowledge and low uptake of the screening practice among these vulnerable segments of the population, especially in the referral centers will emphasize the existence of serious loophole in the prevention and management of this deadly but preventable cancer. We inspire all stakeholders engaged in the care of women living with HIV/AIDS to explore for the alternative strategies to improve the knowledge and uptake of the screening practice.