Perceived Threats Towards Cervical Cancer Among Women ≥ 15 Years in Arsi Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia: A Community Based Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

All cancer mortality accounted 18.4 per 100,000 in Ethiopia. Cancer of the cervix is the second common cause of cancer with incidence of 16.4 per 100,000 in the country. The aim of this study was to assess women’s perception of susceptibility and severity of cervical cancer and their associate factors in Arsi zone, southeastern Ethiopia. A community based cross-sectional study design was carried out in Arsi zone, southeastern Ethiopia among 906 women aged ≥ 15 years using multi-stage sampling technique. Binary logistic regression model was used to determine the association of socio-demographic characteristics and reproductive variables on perceived threats to cervical cancer at p-value of <0.05 using SPSS. When perceived susceptibility and severity combined (perceived threat), 739 (81.9%) of women had low perceived threats to cervical cancer. Ever exposed to STI [AOR=5.8, 95% CI: (2.3-14.9)], ever heard of cervical cancer [AOR=1.87, 95% CI: (1.3-2.8)], ever heard cervical cancer screening [AOR=3.4, 95% CI: (1.7-6.9)], preferences of screening in the future [AOR=2.34, 95% CI: (1.18-4.62)], ever smoked [AOR=2.5, 95% CI: (1.1-5.9)] and ever had abortion [AOR=1.32, 95% CI: (1.05-2.25)] were independently associated with perceived threats to cervical cancer. Women who ever smoked had 2.5 times more likely to perceive threats towards cervical cancer than those non-smokers. The study found that more than one-third of women believed that they were not at risk of developing cervical cancer and the majority of them had lower perceived threats of cervical cancer, which could be a major obstacle in the uptake of cervical cancer screening in the community. Therefore, changing the women’s perception of susceptibility and severity of the disease which enhances screening in the community was recommended.