Breast and cervical cancer screening: A survey of university employees

Abstract

Background: There is an increasing occurrence of non-communicable diseases worldwide. Among them, breast and cervical cancers are notable among females. These diseases often present late with adverse outcomes. Only early detection offered by screening of disease offers the hope of cure. Hence, we undertook a breast and cervical cancer screening education and exercise among female workers of a university community. Methods and Methods: This was part of a non-communicable disease survey among members of the university community. Structured questionnaires were administered on participants after a talk. Screening was carried out using the Papanicolau test for cervical cancer and clinical breast examination for breast cancer. Results: A total of 210 participants were screened. 42 (10.8%) and 23 (10.8%) had family history of breast cancer and previous breast lump, respectively. Only one participant (0.48%) had a breast lump. Abnormal Pap smear result was present in 59 (30.1%) (Inflammation [59.32%], high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) [10.17%], low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) [6.78%], atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance (ASCUS) [10.17%], Atypical squamous cells- cannot exclude HSIL’ (ASC-H) [11.86%] and atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGUS) [1.69%]). Conclusion: The uptake of screening was low, the yield for cervical anomalies was also low, but a reasonable proportion of the participants had risk factors for breast and cervical cancers and so would benefit from further screening over time.