Awareness and factors influencing the utilisation of cervical cancer screening among women in Ruhandagazi Parish, Bushenyi district

Abstract

Cancer of the cervix is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and is a leading cause of cancer-related death in women in underdeveloped countries. Worldwide, approximately 500,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year with 80% occurring in developing countries. The study assessed the awareness and factors influencing the utilisation of cervical cancer screening among women in Ruhandagazi Parish, Bushenyi district. This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey and it was conducted from November 25th -29th 2013 in Ruhandagazi Parish, Bushenyi district. A total of 174 women aged 15-65 years were interviewed using closed ended questionnaires by the researcher. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Windows version 16.0 was used for data entry and analysis. Of all the respondents, 88% of them had heard about cervical cancer but less than 20% of them were knowledgeable about the disease and only 9.2 heard ever gone for cervical cancer screening services. It was concluded that the comprehensive knowledge of women on cervical cancer was found to be poor which explained why the utilization of screening services was very low. Community health education about the disease must include information on risk factors, sign and symptoms of cervical cancer as this will help women understand the severity of this cancer