Knowledge and Attitude towards Cervical Cancer Screening among Females Attending out Patient Department in Health Centre IIIs in Oyam District
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine
Abstract
Cervical cancer is a serious health concern in Uganda. Early screening and
detection certainly improves chances of survival and treatment outcome.
Sound knowledge and positive attitudes highly influence acceptability and
uptake of screening methods. This descriptive cross-sectional study determines
knowledge and attitudes towards Cervical Cancer screening amongst
female out-patients aged 15 - 49 years, attending Health Centre IIIs in Oyam
District, Northern Uganda. A systematically obtained sample of 445 respondents
was interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires and focused
group discussions. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Directed
content analysis of themes of transcribed qualitative data was conducted manually.
Of the 445 respondents, only 62.7% (n = 279) had heard of cervical
cancer amongst which only 35.1% (n = 85) had been screened; 13.7% (n = 34)
did not know what screening was; 3.7% (n = 9) were not sure and 5.8% (n =
14) knew it as removal of the cervix. Only 39.1% (n = 174) believed that cervical
cancer can be prevented. There is still limited knowledge and lots of
misconceptions about cervical cancer screening in the communities, which
requires massive sensitization of the population at risk to change negative attitudes
and maximize acceptability to screening methods.
Description
Keywords
Knowledge, Attitudes, Cervical Cancer, Female Out-Patients, Screening
Citation
Waiswa, A., Nsubuga, R., Muwasi, M., Kimera, I., Ndikabona, G., Tusingwire, P.D., Mshilla, M., Ovuga, E. and Akera, P. (2017) Knowledge and Attitude towards Cervical Cancer Screening among Females Attending out Patient Department in Health Centre IIIs in Oyam District. Open Journal of Preventive Medicine , 7, 55-62. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpm.2017.74005