Impact of Health Promotion Intervention on Perception and Knowledge on Cervical Cancer and Screening among Women in Kirinyaga County, Kenya

Abstract

Cervical cancer is a major cause of death among women in the world with majority of the deaths occurring in developing countries like Kenya. Developed countries have organized screening that has helped in the early detection and screening of cervical cancer, in turn reducing mortality from the disease. There is a need to assist the women at risk to enroll into a routine cervical cancer screening program. This study assessed the impact of health promotion on individual perception and knowledge on uptake cervical cancer and screening among women at risk in Kirinyaga Central sub-county in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study adopted a randomized control study design with a sample size of 206 women aged between 25- 69 years were proportionately distributed in in the 4 wards. Respondents were randomized into control and intervention arms. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. Analysis was done using, thematic content for qualitative data; descriptive statistics was used to summarize categorical variables. Bivariate analysis using the Fisher exact and Chi-square was also applied. Factors with a p<0.05 were further analyzed in multivariate analysis. Respondents who had a high perception of being susceptible to cervical cancer were 4.26 times most likely to attend cervical cancer screening than those who did not. Respondents who had a high perception of cervical cancer being a serious disease were 3.46 times more likely to adhere to cervical cancer screening compared to those who did not. This study recommends to the management of Kirinyaga County and Kerugoya County Referral Hospital to provide health education through provider initiated calls through the mobile phone technology with the aim of bringing positive perception on importance of cervical cancer screening.