Female undergraduates' knowledge about cervical carcinoma and awareness of risk factors and screening in south-western Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives: Cervical carcinoma is among the commonest female cancers with an incidence globally of about half a million new cases annually. It is a preventable disease but many young women are not well informed about the risk factors contributing to its development and worse still did not understand how to detect it early. This was to study the knowledge of female undergraduates about cervical carcinoma, its risk factors and their awareness of the Pap smear screening method. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 494 female university students who were selected randomly from undergraduates was carried out in Osun State. Semi structured questionnaires were self- administered to collect information. Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 17.0 software and the level of significance was P < 0.05. Results: Thirty nine percent of the students were less than 20 years of age. Over 35% of the total number was sexually active with about 68% of these having more than 1 sexual partner. About 42% of the respondents have heard about cervical carcinoma while 48% of the subpopulation was aware that HPV infection was a risk factor and only 1.6% had done the Pap smear. About 28% knew that cervical cancer was preventable. Conclusion: There was low awareness about cervical carcinoma, its risk factors and the Pap smear screening despite the presence of risky sexual habits among female undergraduates. There is a need for increased awareness campaign on risk factors and sensitization of women on regular Pap smear screening. Keywords: Cervical carcinoma, risk factors, Pap smear