BARRIERS TO UPTAKE OF CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN SAGNARIGU MUNICIPAL

Abstract

Cancer of the cervix is second to breast cancer worldwide, and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Cervical cancer prevalence remains high in lower and middle-income (LMICs) countries. Despite this, uptake in cervical cancer screening is low in middle- and low income countries compared to high-income countries. This study therefore assessed the barriers to cervical cancer screening among women of reproductive age in the Sagnarigu Municipal. The study employed a cross-sectional design in determining the barriers to cervical cancer screening among women aged 15-49 years. The study included 291 participants and simple random sampling technique was employed to achieve this. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather data for the study. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25.0. The study found that 92(31.6%) of the respondents were within the 25-34-year range, 91(31.3%), 179(61.2%) of them were married, 206(70.8%) had attained tertiary education, 171(58.8%) were employed, 176(60.5%) belonged to the Islamic religion, 115(39.5%) had 1-2 children. On knowledge, the study found 194(66.6%) of the participants to have good knowledge of cervical cancer screening, 291(100%) participants had heard about cervical cancer before, 225(77.3%) said cervical cancer is a disease that affects only women, 254(36.38%) agreed that regular medical screening could detect cervical cancer early for treatment, 138(40.8%) chose surgery as the treatment option. On the perception of the women with cervical cancer, 194(66.6%) said yes they were at risk of getting the disease,197(67.7%) indicated they would like to be screened for the disease, 263(90.4%) said their partners have never given them money for screening. Cost of service, distance to the health facility, friends' experience of pain, staff attitude partner refusal, and scared of results or outcome were some of the factors found to be preventing women from screening. The Municipal Health Directorate should partner with the Municipal Education Directorate to organize cervical cancer awareness and screening campaigns in various educational institutions. The Sagnarigu Municipal Health Promotion Office and Public Health Nurses should sensitize employers to ensure there is cervical cancer screening for their female workers regularly were some of the recommendations the study made