Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Cervical Cancer Screening Among Female Reproductive Health Clients in Zewditu Memorial Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

: Background: Cervical cancer is the most common gynaecologic malignancy among women. In general, poor level of awareness, lack of effective screening program, overshadowed by other health concerns (such as AIDS, TB, cardiovascular and mental health), and lack of attentiveness to women’s health are a few of the possible factors for the noticed higher incidence rate of cervical cancer in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice on cervical cancer screening among reproductive health clients aged 18-49 of Zewditu Memorial Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional descriptive study, conducted on 237 women who were enrolled with a simple random sampling method from March to October 2020. A structured pretested questionnaire was carried out to gather data and the collected data were entered into SPSS version 23 for analysis. Descriptive analysis using frequency, percentages, mean, and SD with bivariate analysis and multiple regressions was done. Result: About three-quarters (75.1%) of the participants heard about cervical cancer and out of the total participants 59% of them were found to have adequate knowledge, 58.2% with a positive attitude, and 51% of the participants were screened for cervical cancer. Lack of information about cervical cancer was the most reported reason for not attending cervical cancer screening. Conclusion and recommendation: The study showed more than half of the respondents had adequate knowledge, attitude, and practice on cervical cancer and screening for a premalignant cervical lesion. But still, there is a need to promote cervical cancer screening among women by informing them on their susceptibility to cervical cancer and encouraging a belief that active and regular screening can detect cervical cancer at the precancerous stage, hence enabling the early treatment and prevention of cancer development.