Abstract
PurposeCervical cancer remains the second most common cancer and cancer-related death among women in Ethiopia. This is the first study, to our knowledge, describing the demographic, and clinicopathologic characteristics of cervical cancer cases in a mainly rural, Southwestern Ethiopian population with a low literacy rate to provide data on the cervical cancer burden and help guide future prevention and intervention efforts.MethodsA descriptive analysis of 154 cervical cancer cases at the Jimma University Teaching Hospital in Southwestern Ethiopia from January 2008 –December 2010 was performed. Demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained from patient questionnaires and cervical punch biopsies were histologically examined.ResultsOf the 154 participants with a histopathologic diagnosis of cervical cancer, 95.36% had not heard of cervical cancer and 89.6% were locally advanced at the time of diagnosis. Moreover, 86.4% of participants were illiterate, and 62% lived in a rural area.ConclusionA majority of the 154 women with cervical cancer studied at the Jimma University Teaching Hospital in Southwestern Ethiopia were illiterate, had not heard of cervical cancer and had advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Given the low rates of literacy and knowledge regarding cervical cancer in this population which has been shown to correlate with a decreased odds of undergoing screening, future interventions to address the cervical cancer burden here must include an effective educational component.
Highlights
Cervical cancer pathology and demographic data is lacking from Southwestern Ethiopia
Of the 154 participants with a histopathologic diagnosis of cervical cancer, 95.36% had not heard of cervical cancer and 89.6% were locally advanced at the time of diagnosis
Aweke et al described that 34.8% of 583 survey respondents in Southern Ethiopia had a negative attitude pertaining to cervical cancer [7]
Summary
Cervical cancer pathology and demographic data is lacking from Southwestern Ethiopia. Jimma is part of the Oromia state which has one of the highest poverty rates (74.9% of the population) and lowest literacy rates in the country (36% of all residents, with 17% of the female residents living in rural settings) [2,3]. Contributory data from this hospital is vital since every year, an estimated 7,095 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,732 deaths are due to the disease in Ethiopia—it is currently the second most common cause of female cancer deaths in Ethiopia, after breast cancer. Aweke et al described that 34.8% of 583 survey respondents in Southern Ethiopia had a negative attitude pertaining to cervical cancer [7]
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