Abstract
Literature shows that cervical cancer is very prevalent among women living in low resource settings. Once it progresses to invasive cervical cancer, its cost is very high. Thus, screening cervical cancer is highly recommended in poor settings including Ethiopia, where the disease burden is very high. However, little is documented on the prevalence and determinants of precancerous cervical lesion among healthy women. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with precancerous cervical lesion among women working in Almeda textile factory, Adwa, North Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 20 to 25, 2016 among women working in Almeda textile factory in North Ethiopia. Three hundred forty-two women were included in this study. Data were collected using a structured checklist. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the precancerous cervical lesion. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. The mean (± SD) age of the respondents included in this study was 32.95 (± 6.94). In this study, the overall prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion was 6.7% (95% CI: 4.4, 9.6). Being infected with sexually transmitted infections [AOR=49.88, 95% CI: (16.59, 149.91)] was significantly associated with the precancerous cervical lesion. In conclusion, the prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion was high among women working in Almeda textile factory in North Ethiopia. Therefore, cervical cancer screening and treatment services should be initiated and expanded to reduce morbidity from cervical cancer and its adverse effects. Key words: Precancerous cervical lesion, screening, Ethiopia.
Highlights
Cervical cancer is caused by certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI)
Women employees who were screened for precancerous cervical lesion from September 12 to 20, 2015 as part of the screening campaign made by Family Guidance Association (FGA) in Almeda textile factory was the source population for this study
Sixteen (4.7%) of the study participants were living with human immune deficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) (Table 1)
Summary
Cervical cancer is caused by certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). Most women’s immune systems will eliminate HPV naturally, but if an infection with specific types of HPV associated with cervical cancer persists, it may lead to precancerous lesions. If left untreated, these lesions may progress to cervical cancer (WHO, 2008; Ferlay et al, 2010; Bray et al, 2001; Munoz et al, 2004). The most simple, efficient and cost-effective screening technique in low-resource countries is visual inspection using acetic acid (VIA) (Sherris et al, 2009; Mvundura and Tsu, 2014), which performs well in identifying precancerous lesions (Sherris et al, 2009; Sauvaget et al, 2011). VIA is the lowest-cost option for treating precancerous cervical lesion which significantly decreases cervical cancer deaths (Mvundura and Tsu, 2014)
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