Knowledge Of Cervical Cancer And Its Socio-demographic Determinants Among Women In An Urban Community Of North-central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy in women worldwide with a high incidence in developing countries and Nigeria is one of these countries. Despite this, majority of the women in these countries have poor knowledge of cervical cancer.
Aims/Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the knowledge of symptoms and risk factors for cervical cancer among women in Olufadi community, Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving women aged 25-64 years. Respondents were selected through systematic sampling of households. Interviewer- administered pre-tested semistructured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15.
Results: Only 59 (29.5%) respondents had some knowledge of symptoms of cervical cancer with 9 (4.5%) of them having good knowledge. Also, 53 (26.5%) had appreciable knowledge of the risk factors with only 20 (10.0%) of them demonstrating good knowledge. Age of respondents, age at
marriage and attainment of tertiary education were significant predictors of knowledge of cervical cancer among the respondents.
Conclusion: The poor knowledge of cervical cancer demonstrated by respondents in this study underscores the need for urgent community mobilization and use of educational resources to disseminate information on cervical cancer.

Key words-Knowledge, cervical cancer, Nigeria