Mohammed Ebrahim, Kaba Mirgissa, Taye Girma, Assefa Mathewos, Jemal Ahmedin, Addissie Adamu
Department of Public Health, Adama Hospital Medical College, Adama, Ethiopia.
Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Front Oncol. 2025 Apr 2;15:1456804. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1456804. eCollection 2025.
Cervical cancer is a major public health problem in low-income countries, including Ethiopia. Various pieces of evidence show that the uptake of cervical cancer screening is low in Ethiopia. The reasons for this low uptake of cervical cancer screening have not been well documented.
The aim of this study is to explore the reasons for not taking up cervical cancer screening and gather the perspectives of women and healthcare providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Adult women and healthcare providers participated in the study. Eleven focus group discussions were conducted with women from the community. A total of 18 key Informant interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals who providing cervical cancer screening services and family health team leaders. Interviews and discussions were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded. We used MAXQDA software v.20 for data reduction to facilitate thematic analysis and interpretation.
Eleven focus group discussions and 18 key informant interviews were conducted. In this study, individual-level barriers, such as low knowledge of cervical cancer and screening, feeling healthy, fear of the screening procedure and results, fear of not being cured, fear of divorce, stigma and discrimination, preference for female healthcare providers, and spousal disapproval or resistance, were identified as the main reasons for the low uptake of screening. Community-level barriers such as perceiving cervical cancer as a deadly disease; misconceptions, such as screening causing infertility, and the absence of open discussion, were also found to contribute to low screening uptake.
Knowledge about cervical cancer and screening was found to be inadequate. Individual and community-level socio-cultural barriers were identified as reasons for the low uptake of screening. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct behavioral change and communication activities at both the individual and community levels to increase knowledge of cervical cancer and screening, reduce sociocultural barriers, and improve the uptake of cervical cancer screening.
宫颈癌是包括埃塞俄比亚在内的低收入国家的一个主要公共卫生问题。各种证据表明，埃塞俄比亚宫颈癌筛查的接受率很低。宫颈癌筛查接受率低的原因尚未得到充分记录。
本研究的目的是探讨不接受宫颈癌筛查的原因，并收集埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴女性和医疗服务提供者的观点。
成年女性和医疗服务提供者参与了该研究。与社区女性进行了11次焦点小组讨论。对提供宫颈癌筛查服务的医疗专业人员和家庭健康团队负责人进行了总共18次关键知情人访谈。访谈和讨论进行了录音、转录和编码。我们使用MAXQDA软件v.20进行数据简化，以促进主题分析和解释。
进行了11次焦点小组讨论和18次关键知情人访谈。在本研究中，个人层面的障碍，如对宫颈癌和筛查的知识不足、感觉健康、对筛查程序和结果的恐惧、对无法治愈的恐惧、对离婚的恐惧、耻辱和歧视、对女性医疗服务提供者的偏好以及配偶的不赞成或抵制，被确定为筛查接受率低的主要原因。社区层面的障碍，如将宫颈癌视为致命疾病；误解，如筛查导致不孕，以及缺乏公开讨论，也被发现导致筛查接受率低。
发现关于宫颈癌和筛查的知识不足。个人和社区层面的社会文化障碍被确定为筛查接受率低的原因。因此，在个人和社区层面开展行为改变和沟通活动，以增加对宫颈癌和筛查的知识，减少社会文化障碍，并提高宫颈癌筛查的接受率至关重要。
