Knowledge, Perceived Risks and Factors Affecting the Utilization of Cervical Screening Services among Females in Owerri North LGA

Abstract

Background: Globally, cervical cancer screening services involves procedures put in to prevent and checkmate complications in the cervix. Lack of cervical screening services can lead to cervical cancers, one of the leading causes of death in women, which begin in cells on the surface of the cervix. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, perceived risks and factors affecting the utilization of cervical screening services among females in Owerri North LGA. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was employed in this research. The multi-stage simple random sampling procedure was employed to obtain a sample size of 424 respondents and a self-administered semi structured questionnaire was used to gather data for this study. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the analysis of the data gotten from the study. Results: The results of this study revealed that majority, 27.8% (118) of the women represented age groups between 25-34 and 45-49. For the level of knowledge of cervical screening services, most of the respondents 86.4% (366) demonstrated knowledge of cervical screening, while 13.6% (58) denied. The study also showed a good number of females, about 41.2% (175), agreed that it was risky to avoid uptake of cervical screening. Majority of the respondents reported demonstrated their approval to utilize cervix screening if offered a chance (85.9%), while 14.1% (60) denied based on results from level of knowledge of cervical screening. 19.3% (82) reported family/husband acceptance, 18.7% (79) said “distance to facility” as some of the factors affecting the utilization of cervical screening practice. Further results for the test of a statistically significant association between socio-demographic characteristics and level of knowledge of cervical screening services, age (p=0.010), parity (p=0.0008), level of income (p=0.0092) and level of education (p=0.0327) were associated with level of knowledge of cervical screening services. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study showed good knowledge of the perceived risks of cervical screening among the females but this did not translate to willingness to utilize screening and awareness campaigns must provide accurate information on cervical screening so that females can make informed choices was recommended by this study