Cervical Cancer Screening Knowledge among Women of Childbearing Age in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State

Abstract

Cervical cancer screening is one of the reliable measures to establish cervical cancer (CC) cases in women. However, there seems to be a lack of knowledge of CC screening among many women, especially in rural communities. This study determined cervical cancer screening knowledge among women of childbearing age in Nsukka Local Government Area (LGA), Enugu State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study consisted of 11,357 women of childbearing age who registered with accredited public healthcare facilities in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State. A total of 400 respondents constituted the sample size for the study. An adapted questionnaire titled “Cervical Cancer Screening Knowledge Questionnaire (CCSKQ) with a reliability index of .89 was used for data collection. Frequencies and percentages were employed to answer the research questions while chi-square test was utilized to test the null hypothesis. The results were considered statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05. The findings indicated that greater proportion of women of childbearing age possessed adequate cervical cancer screening knowledge (62.4%). Also, majority (63.1%) of nulliparous, multiparous (61.5%); primiparous (62.3) and grand multiparous (58.1%) women possessed adequate cervical cancer screening knowledge. No significant difference was observed in the cervical cancer screening knowledge among women of childbearing age based on parity status (p>0.05). The researchers recommended that the ministry of health in collaboration with healthcare professionals should routinely organize seminars and workshops on cervical cancer screening and its health benefits.