Obiechina N J A, Mbamara S U
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State.
Niger J Med. 2009 Oct-Dec;18(4):384-7. doi: 10.4314/njm.v18i4.51248.
Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in the developing world. This high fatality is due to late presentation. It is believed that widespread screening of women for precursor lesion and early detection of the invasive disease can lead to a reduction in cervical cancer and cervical cancer deaths. This study assesses the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer among sexually active women in Onitsha Southeast Nigeria.
Three major layouts in Onitsha were chosen as the areas of study In these areas, 5 sites each where major economic activities take place were chosen for the distribution of the questionnaire. A total of 400 pretested questionnaires were administered to women who gave their verbal consent to participate in this study. The data were analyzed using SPSS package for windows version 11.0.
The result showed that 76 (26.85%) of the respondents were aware of cervical cancer screening. Thirty six (47.4%) of the aware group knew that the test was a screening test for cervical cancer There was significant association between the educational status and the knowledge of Pap test but there was no significant association between the educational status and the utilization of the Pap test.
This study shows that there is poor awareness and utilization of cervical screening test in our environment. There is therefore an urgent need to establish an aggressive and sustainable awareness campaign on the preventive nature of cervical cancer and further establish an organized cancer screening programme.
宫颈癌是发展中国家主要的死亡原因之一。这种高死亡率归因于就诊延迟。人们认为，对女性进行广泛的癌前病变筛查以及早期发现浸润性疾病可降低宫颈癌发病率和宫颈癌死亡率。本研究评估了尼日利亚东南部奥尼查性活跃女性对宫颈癌的认知、态度和行为。
选择奥尼查的三个主要区域作为研究地点。在这些区域，各选取5个主要经济活动场所用于发放问卷。总共向口头同意参与本研究的女性发放了400份经过预测试的问卷。使用SPSS for Windows 11.0版软件包对数据进行分析。
结果显示，76名（26.85%）受访者知晓宫颈癌筛查。在知晓的人群中，36名（47.4%）知道该检查是宫颈癌筛查。教育程度与巴氏试验知识之间存在显著关联，但教育程度与巴氏试验的使用之间无显著关联。
本研究表明，在我们的环境中，宫颈癌筛查检查的知晓率和利用率较低。因此，迫切需要开展积极且可持续的宣传活动，宣传宫颈癌的预防性质，并进一步建立有组织的癌症筛查项目。
