Awareness of cervical cancer amongst female adolescents: A Nigerian study

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Background: Cervical cancer is the commonest genital tract malignancy in Nigeria. Due to no organized screening modalities in this part of the world and late presentation mortality from cervical cancer is high. Awareness of cervical cancer as preventive measures amongst adolescents will curtail the disease burden and mortality in the developing countries of the world. Aim: To determine the awareness of cervical cancer amongst adolescents in south and eastern Nigeria. Method: The survey was a six-week cross sectional study conducted among 240 female adolescents attending a holiday camp meeting in Rivers state, Ngeria. The subjects were from ten secondary schools in the state and undergraduates from five universities in South and Eastern Nigeria. Permission for the study was granted by office of the Director of Public Health, Rivers State Ministry of Health. The information was coded and analysed using SPSS version 25. Results: The study involved 240 subjects. The mean age was 15 years. Forty-three (17.9%) of the adolescents were below 13 years, 124 (51.6%) were between age 14 – 16 years, 73 (30.5%) were between ages 17 – 19 years. Thirty-six (15%) of the adolescents were in their junior secondary while 134 (55.8%) were in senior secondary and undergraduates were 70 (29.2%) of the adolescents. The awareness of cervical cancer amongst the subjects was 108 (45%). The awareness of cervical cancer according to educational categories of the adolescents were as follows, undergraduates were 54 (22.5%), senior secondary 23 (9.6%) and junior secondary 19 (7.9%). The commonest means of information about the cervical cancer was the media 120 (50%), followed by school 72 (30%), hospital 24 (10%) and others 24 (10%). Conclusion: The study revealed the awareness of cervical cancer as 45% amongst female adolescents in south and eastern Nigeria. This is worrisome due to the number of morbidities and mortalities of cervical cancer in the developing countries of the world. Enlightenment and advocacy campaigns should be stepped-up amongst adolescents in these regions and in Nigeria as a country.