Health Systems Enablement & Innovation Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Department of Public Health, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa.
BMC Womens Health. 2023 Mar 9;23(1):94. doi: 10.1186/s12905-023-02251-0.
Cervical cancer is a preventable but highly prevalent cancer in many low -and middle-income countries including South Africa. Cervical cancer outcomes can be improved with improved vaccination, a well-coordinated and efficient screening programme, increased community awareness and uptake, and increased knowledge and advocacy of health professionals. This study therefore aimed to ascertain the knowledge, attitudes, practices and barriers of cervical cancer screening among nurses of selected rural hospitals in South Africa.
A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in five hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa between October and December 2021. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess demographic characteristics of nurses and cervical cancer knowledge, attitudes, barriers and practices. A knowledge score of 65% was deemed adequate. Data were captured in Microsoft Excel Office 2016 and exported to STATA version 17.0 for analysis. Descriptive data analyses were used to report the results.
A total of 119 nurses participated in the study with just under two thirds (77/119, 64.7%) being professional nurses. Only 15.1% (18/119) of participants were assessed as having obtained a good knowledge score of ≥ 65%. The majority of these (16/18, 88.9%) were professional nurses. Of the participants with a good knowledge score, 61.1% (11/18) were from Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, the only teaching hospital studied. Cervical cancer was deemed to be a disease of public health importance by 74.0% (88/119). However, only 27.7% (33/119) performed cervical cancer screening. Most of the participants (116/119, 97.5%) had an interest of attending more cervical cancer training.
The majority of nurse participants did not have adequate knowledge about cervical cancer and screening, and few performed screening tests. Despite this, there is a high level of interest in being trained. Meeting these training needs is of utmost importance to implementing a comprehensive cervical cancer screening programme in South Africa.
宫颈癌是一种可预防但在许多中低收入国家（包括南非）普遍存在的癌症。通过改善疫苗接种、协调良好且高效的筛查计划、提高社区意识和参与度、增强卫生专业人员的知识和宣传，可以改善宫颈癌的预后。因此，本研究旨在确定南非选定农村医院护士对宫颈癌筛查的知识、态度、实践和障碍。
2021 年 10 月至 12 月在南非东开普省的五家医院进行了一项横断面研究。使用自填式问卷评估护士的人口统计学特征、宫颈癌知识、态度、障碍和实践。将 65%的知识得分视为足够。数据在 Microsoft Excel Office 2016 中捕获，并导出到 STATA 版本 17.0 进行分析。使用描述性数据分析报告结果。
共有 119 名护士参加了这项研究，其中近三分之二（77/119，64.7%）是专业护士。只有 15.1%（18/119）的参与者被评估为获得了≥65%的良好知识得分。其中大多数（16/18，88.9%）是专业护士。在具有良好知识得分的参与者中，61.1%（11/18）来自唯一研究的教学医院纳尔逊·曼德拉学术医院。74.0%（88/119）的参与者认为宫颈癌是一种公共卫生重要疾病。然而，只有 27.7%（33/119）进行了宫颈癌筛查。大多数参与者（116/119，97.5%）有兴趣参加更多的宫颈癌培训。
大多数护士参与者对宫颈癌和筛查缺乏足够的知识，很少进行筛查测试。尽管如此，对培训的兴趣很高。满足这些培训需求对于在南非实施全面的宫颈癌筛查计划至关重要。
