Knowledge and barriers of cervical cancer screening among women in selected public health midwife areas in Batticaloa

Abstract

Background: The most common gynecological malignancy is the Cancer of the cervix and it is the second most frequent cancer in women worldwide. Cancer of the cervix is one of the commonest gynecological cancers in Sri Lanka. Cervical cancer is highly preventable and curable disease when detected and treated early in its precancerous stage. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and barriers of cervical cancer screening among women in selected Public Health Midwives areas in Batticaloa. Method: A Cross Sectional Descriptive Study was conducted among 380 women aged between 20 and 60 years and living in selected Public Health Midwives (PHM) areas in Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health (MOH)area. The selected PHM areas were Kokkuvil, Puliyandhivu and Irudhayapuram East. The study period was from November 2017 to October 2018. Samples were selected with simple random sampling method and interviewer administered questionnaire were used to collect the data. Statistical Package of Social Science 19 (SPSS v.19) was used for entering, analyzing and interpreting the data. The association of knowledge and barriers with the demographical factors was assessed by chi squared (q) test. Result: Total of 380 participants were recruited for this study. Around 14% of participants had adequate knowledge on risk factors, sign and symptoms, preventive measures and treatment of cervical cancer, and only 3.2% of participants scored adequate knowledge on cervical cancer screening. The overall knowledge on cervical cancer was inadequate (56.1%). There was a significant portion of women (87.1%) had never done any cervical cancer screening test. The reasons for not having Pap Smear Test were lack of knowledge on cervical cancer and lack of knowledge on cervical cancer screening and lack of facilities in health services. Conclusion: The knowledge on cervical cancer and its screening methods were poor among the participants especially among women who had lower educational status and were in rural area. And also the attendance for pap smear test is very poor in selected PHM areas. There is an imperative need for related awareness programs to promote the uptake of cervical cancer screening tests.