Donkor Andrew, Osei Loretta Pokua, Acquaah-Arhin Ewura Adwoa Kwafoa, Suka Pamela Deladem, Kitson-Mills Doris, Adjei Alberta Naa Afia, Ohemeng Evans, Ouedraogo Samiratou, Dzomeku Veronica Millicent
Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
IMPACCT (Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Womens Health (Lond). 2025 Jan-Dec;21:17455057251335446. doi: 10.1177/17455057251335446. Epub 2025 Apr 28.
Cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer in Ghana. Cervical cancer is preventable through knowledge, vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), screening and treatment of precancerous lesions.
This study aimed to assess the determinants of cervical cancer knowledge and barriers to HPV vaccine uptake among female university students in Ghana.
An anonymous, online cross-sectional study was conducted from 25 June to 22 September 2024.
The survey contained questions on demographic characteristics, cervical cancer risk factors, symptoms, HPV vaccination and barriers to vaccine uptake. Binomial logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the factors associated with knowledge of cervical cancer. A -value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
A total of 1662 female university students responded to the online survey. The mean age of the respondents was 21.5 ± 2.03 years. Overall, the prevalence of inadequate knowledge of cervical cancer was 60.2%. The least recognised cervical cancer symptom was blood in the stool or urine (58.4%). Respondents who had a steady partner and living together had 3.59 times higher odds of inadequate knowledge of cervical cancer compared to respondents who were not dating. Muslim respondents had 2.13 times higher odds of inadequate knowledge of cervical cancer compared to Christian. Unvaccinated respondents had 3.85 times higher odds of inadequate knowledge of cervical cancer compared to those who had received the HPV vaccine. More than four-fifths (87.0%) of the respondents indicated that they had not been vaccinated against HPV. The major barriers to HPV vaccine uptake included: inadequate knowledge of the vaccine, fear of side effects, lack of knowledge about the vaccination site, fear of injection and doubts regarding the vaccine's efficacy.
Improving access to cervical cancer awareness and HPV vaccination among university students is a critical public health goal to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. It is important to promote a free national school-based HPV vaccination programme. Multi-component school-based educational interventions, including traditional methods such as lectures, group discussions and digital tools like web-based educational platforms should be implemented to improve cervical cancer knowledge among university students.
宫颈癌是加纳第二常见的女性癌症。宫颈癌可通过知识普及、人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）疫苗接种、癌前病变筛查和治疗来预防。
本研究旨在评估加纳女大学生宫颈癌知识的决定因素以及HPV疫苗接种的障碍。
于2024年6月25日至9月22日进行了一项匿名的在线横断面研究。
该调查包含有关人口统计学特征、宫颈癌危险因素、症状、HPV疫苗接种及疫苗接种障碍的问题。进行二项逻辑回归分析以预测与宫颈癌知识相关的因素。P值小于0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
共有1662名女大学生回复了在线调查。受访者的平均年龄为21.5±2.03岁。总体而言，宫颈癌知识不足的患病率为60.2%。最不被认可的宫颈癌症状是大便或尿液带血（58.4%）。有固定伴侣且同居的受访者宫颈癌知识不足的几率是未约会受访者的3.59倍。与基督教受访者相比，穆斯林受访者宫颈癌知识不足的几率高2.13倍。未接种疫苗的受访者宫颈癌知识不足的几率是接种过HPV疫苗者的3.85倍。超过五分之四（87.0%）的受访者表示他们未接种过HPV疫苗。HPV疫苗接种的主要障碍包括：对疫苗知识不足、担心副作用、对接种地点不了解、害怕打针以及对疫苗效果存疑。
提高大学生对宫颈癌的认知和HPV疫苗接种率是降低宫颈癌发病率的关键公共卫生目标。推广免费的全国性校内HPV疫苗接种计划很重要。应实施多成分的校内教育干预措施，包括讲座、小组讨论等传统方法以及基于网络的教育平台等数字工具，以提高大学生的宫颈癌知识水平。
