Cervical cytology and associated factors among tribal women of Karnataka, India

Abstract

Background Reproductive well-being is a crucial element of women’s health. Due to the asymptomatic nature of gynaecological morbidities, women rarely seek medical advice in the initial period leading to delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis of subsequent disease. The present study aimed to explore the cervical cytology and its associated risk factors among women from tribal communities of the southern part of coastal Karnataka, India. Methods Papanicolaou (Pap) smear test was performed among 1140 women from three tribal populations, to detect cervical lesions, infections and reactive changes. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics of the study population. Results The most predominant gynaecological complaint among the participants was severe lower back ache (77.6%), followed by white discharge per vagina (29.0%) and menstrual irregularities (25.9%). Of the 1140 women screened, 12.4% showed cervical microbial infections, 23.6% were reported to have reactive changes, and 0.2% had epithelial cell abnormalities in the cervix. Cervical microbial infections were found to be associated with younger age group, low socio-economic status and younger age at sexual debut. Conclusion Most of the symptoms suggestive of gynaecological morbidities reported in this study are preventable or treatable. Strengthening ongoing cervical cancer screening programme and implementation of health education programmes among tribal population would be the right policy approach to prevent, detect and treat these symptoms at an early stage and to achieve acceptable health outcomes among tribal women.

Cervical Cancer Knowledge and Screening among Young Female Adults in the Kintampo Municipal Hospital, Bono East Ghana.

“…When asked about sources of information on cervical cancer among those who had knowledge of cervical cancer, out of the 195 respondents, about 45.1% reported television, radio, internet and 45.6% reported health workers. This is different from a study findings from [27] which had 97.1 percent attributing their sources of information about cancer of the cervix to relatives and friends but similar to findings by [28], which found out that majority of the women had their information from the mass media. Another study also done in Ethiopia by [29], also found that most of the women had their information from health workers.…”

“…Discoveries from the analysis proved just 5.4% respondents had taken part in screening for cervical cancer. Though not encouraging, this is by far better than another study conducted and had none of the study participants who had undergone cervix screening for the disease before [27]. Conversely, out from this research agreed with another one conducted in Elmina by [40], to evaluate the knowledge, barriers and practice towards the screening of the ailment.…”

Pattern and predictors of cervical epithelial cell abnormalities among unscreened and under-screened women in Lagos, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

“…In Nigeria, the prevalence rate of CECA varies from 5%–11.3% in the northern region [ 29 , 30 ], 11.2%–16.5% in the eastern region [ 31 , 32 ] to 13.9%–34.6% in the western region [ 14 , 33 ]. Similar variation was observed in many LMICs with reported rates of 0.2%–12% in India [ 34 , 35 ], 2.5%–5.7% in Saudi Arabia [ 36 ], 3.7% in Ghana [ 37 ], 3.7% in Oman [ 38 ], 3.8% in Jordan [ 39 ], 4.4% in Kuwait [ 40 ], 5.1% in Turkey [ 41 ], 8.7% in Tanzania [ 42 ] and 14.1% in Ethiopia [ 43 ]. Several factors have been shown to account for this variation.…”

Pattern of contraceptive use, determinants and fertility intentions among tribal women in Kerala, India: a cross-sectional study

“…Other reasons could be the high prevalence of reproductive tract infections. The few studies among tribal women on reproductive infection in a southern and northern state of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh found a prevalence of 12%–14% 29 30…”