Knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer in Southwestern Ethiopia is lacking: a descriptive analysis

Abstract

25Purpose 26 Cervical cancer remains the second most common cancer and cancer-related death among 27 women in Ethiopia. This is the first study, to our knowledge, describing the demographic, and 28 clinicopathologic characteristics of cervical cancer cases in a mainly rural, Southwestern 29 Ethiopian population with a low literacy rate to provide data on the cervical cancer burden and 30 help guide future prevention and intervention efforts. 31 32 Methods 33 A descriptive analysis of 154 cervical cancer cases at the Jimma University Teaching Hospital in 34 Southwestern Ethiopia from January 2008 -December 2010 was performed. Demographic and 35 clinical characteristics were obtained from patient questionnaires and cervical punch biopsies 36 were histologically examined. 37 38 Results 39Of the 154 participants with a histopathologic diagnosis of cervical cancer, 95.36% had not heard 40 of cervical cancer and 89.6% were locally advanced at the time of diagnosis. Moreover, 86.4% 41 of participants were illiterate, and 62% lived in a rural area. 42 43 Conclusion 44 A majority of the 154 women with cervical cancer studied at the Jimma University Teaching 45 Hospital in Southwestern Ethiopia were illiterate, had not heard of cervical cancer and had 46 advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Given the low rates of literacy and knowledge 3 47 regarding cervical cancer in this population which has been shown to correlate with a decreased 48 odds of undergoing screening, future interventions to address the cervical cancer burden here 49 must include an effective educational component. 50 51 Introduction: 52 Cervical cancer pathology and demographic data is lacking from Southwestern Ethiopia. 53 The Jimma University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) is located in the city of Jimma which is 352 54 km southwest of Ethiopia's capital city Addis Ababa and is unique in that it acts as the only 55 teaching and referral hospital in the region, serving a population of 15 million people [1]. 56 Moreover, Jimma is part of the Oromia state which has one of the highest poverty rates (74.9% 57 of the population) and lowest literacy rates in the country (36% of all residents, with 17% of the 58 female residents living in rural settings) [2-3]. Contributory data from this hospital is vital since 59 every year, an estimated 7,095 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,732 deaths are 60 due to the disease in Ethiopia -it is currently the second most common cause of female cancer 61 deaths in Ethiopia, after breast cancer. 62 Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is the necessary cause of >99% of 63 cervical cancer [4]. Other contributing factors include smoking, total fertility rate, and human 64 immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection [5]. The knowledge about cervical cancer in Ethiopia 65has been reported to range from 21.2% to 53.7%, with screening rates that ranged from 9.9% to 66 23.5%. Three of these four studies, however, took place in Northern Ethiopia [6][7][8][9]. Though there 67is not yet an organized cervical cance...

Knowledge and practice for cervical cancer among female primary school teachers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: A cross-sectional phone-based survey

“…Cervical cancer can be avoided in the future through implementing these measures (4,5). In many LMIC countries, where these preventive measures are not available, women have little knowledge of cervical cancer and its preventive measures (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). To promote screening among women to prevent cervical cancer, their own knowledge and understanding of cervical cancer are essential.…”

Communicative challenges among physicians, patients, and family caregivers in cancer care: An exploratory qualitative study in Ethiopia

“…Few studies on communication in Ethiopian health care are available in general, and in cancer care in particular [13,14]. Cancer awareness and knowledge in Ethiopia is low, especially relating to cervical cancer [15], but also regarding breast cancer [16]. In addition, the lack of a national screening system and low access to relevant healthcare service reportedly contribute to inefficient testing and late diagnosis and treatment, which results in many women seeking help too late [14,[17][18][19].…”

Cancer signs and risk factors awareness in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a population-based survey

“…The overall level of awareness about cancer signs and risk factors was classified as poor or good using the mean value as a cut-off point. Respondents with awareness scores higher than the mean, as previously reported, were considered to have good awareness [31]. The association between sociodemographic variables and the risk of cancer was determined using logistic regression models by estimating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).…”

“…In Ethiopia, little attention has been paid to examining the impact of culture, socioeconomic status, and religious beliefs on public awareness of cancer [28]. So far, few studies have been undertaken to examine public awareness of specific cancer types, such as cervical [29][30][31], breast [32][33][34], and colorectal cancers [35]. Moreover, more than 80% of cancer cases in Ethiopia are identified at an advanced stage, which is suggested to be due to a lack of public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms [28].…”