Level of health literacy on cervical cancer and its correlates among women of reproductive age group in an Eastern state of India

IF 2.3 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health Pub Date : 2025-06-07 DOI:10.1016/j.cegh.2025.102091

Bijaya Nanda Naik , Manisha Verma , Rajath Rao , Santosh Kumar Nirala , Sanjay Pandey , Sangam Jha , Anuvarshini Ramalingam , Bhavna Singh

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Poor health literacy contributes to cervical cancer being the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women. This study aimed to assess health literacy levels regarding cervical cancer and identify factors associated with high literacy among reproductive-age women attending the Outpatient Department at a tertiary-care health institution in Patna, Bihar.

Materials and methods

This study included 305 married women, selected using judgmental sampling, who had attended the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the study site for at least 6 months. A pre-tested questionnaire for general information and a modified Assessment of Health Literacy on Cervical Cancer (AHL-C) tool were used for data collection. Multivariable binomial logistic regression analysis was done to find out the correlates of health literacy.

Results

The level of high health literacy on cervical cancer was 9.20 % [95 % CI: 6.3–13.3]. Occupation and awareness of cervical cancer were independent predictors of high health literacy on the disease. Higher literacy scores were observed among middle-aged women, those with education beyond the 10th grade, employed women, those from Above Poverty Line (APL) families, women aware of cervical cancer and female-specific cancers, and those with a family history of female-specific cancers, compared to their counterparts.

Conclusions

Only one in ten women in our study had high health literacy on cervical cancer. It is important to improve the education levels of females, give them job opportunities, and create awareness of cervical cancer to improve health literacy on cervical cancer, thereby reducing the cervical cancer burden in this region of India.

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印度东部一个邦育龄妇女关于子宫颈癌及其相关因素的卫生知识普及水平

背景：卫生知识贫乏导致宫颈癌成为妇女发病和死亡的第二大原因。本研究旨在评估在比哈尔邦巴特那一家三级保健机构门诊部就诊的育龄妇女的宫颈癌健康素养水平，并确定与高素养相关的因素。材料与方法本研究纳入305名已婚妇女，采用判断抽样法，在研究地点的妇产科就诊至少6个月。使用预先测试的一般信息问卷和改进的宫颈癌健康素养评估（AHL-C）工具收集数据。采用多变量二项logistic回归分析，探讨健康素养的相关因素。结果宫颈癌高健康素养水平为9.20% [95% CI: 6.3 ~ 13.3]。职业和对宫颈癌的认识是高健康素养的独立预测因素。与同龄女性相比，在中年女性、受教育程度超过10年级的女性、在职女性、来自贫困线以上（APL）家庭、了解宫颈癌和女性特有癌症的女性以及有女性特有癌症家族史的女性中，读写能力得分更高。结论在我们的研究中，只有十分之一的妇女对宫颈癌有较高的健康素养。重要的是提高妇女的教育水平，为她们提供就业机会，提高对宫颈癌的认识，以提高对宫颈癌的健康知识，从而减少印度这一地区的宫颈癌负担。

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来源期刊

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

7.70%

发文量

218

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health (CEGH) is a multidisciplinary journal and it is published four times (March, June, September, December) a year. The mandate of CEGH is to promote articles on clinical epidemiology with focus on developing countries in the context of global health. We also accept articles from other countries. It publishes original research work across all disciplines of medicine and allied sciences, related to clinical epidemiology and global health. The journal publishes Original articles, Review articles, Evidence Summaries, Letters to the Editor. All articles published in CEGH are peer-reviewed and published online for immediate access and citation.