Abstract
BackgroundBreast and cervical cancers constitute the most common cancers among women in sub-Saharan Africa. In Zimbabwe, cervical cancer accounts for more than a third of all cancers among women of African descent. Cancer knowledge levels, attitudes and practices of people in different sections of society should be assessed in order to guide current cancer interventions. This study aimed to assess breast and cervical cancer knowledge, attitudes and practices of women of reproductive age, in Mudzi District, Republic of Zimbabwe.MethodsA cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted. A total of 409 survey household questionnaires were administered to women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in 2014.ResultsA total of 409 respondents were interviewed. Nearly 85% of respondents had heard of cancer. 34.2% did not know of any cervical cancer risk factors and 51% were not familiar with the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer. Fifty five percent (55%) had not discussed cancer issues with partners in the past 12 months, and only 27.4% had discussed cancer issues with partners at all. Most of the respondents (96.2%) had never undergone cervical cancer screening. The majority of the respondents (70.8%) had never discussed breast cancer issues with community members. About 70% had never discussed cervical cancer issues with community members.ConclusionsThis study revealed a lack of awareness and comprehensive knowledge about breast and cervical cancer. It also revealed low self-risk perception, low uptake of cancer early detection services and low capacity of the local health institution in offering cancer services. It is recommended that the scaling-up of cancer information, dissemination, and early detection services must be prioritised, including training of local health institutions.
Highlights
Breast and cervical cancers constitute the most common cancers among women in sub-Saharan Africa
This study showed a low level of cervical cancer knowledge among medical staff
The study focused on women between 15 and 49 years because that was the target group of the cancer education and screening project which was incorporated in the existing Human Immuno- Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) interventions in Mudzi district which already targeted the reproductive age group (15–49 years age group)
Summary
Breast and cervical cancers constitute the most common cancers among women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess breast and cervical cancer knowledge, attitudes and practices of women of reproductive age, in Mudzi District, Republic of Zimbabwe. Breast and cervical cancers are the most common cancers among women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [1]. Breast and cervical cancer constituted a respective 7 and 19% of Zimbabwe’s total cancer incidences in 2015. Breast and cervical cancer alone contributed 11.6 and 34.8%, respectively, to the total cancer incidences of indigenous Zimbabwean women in 2015. Breast and cervical cancer constituted 7 and 12%, respectively, of the total number of cancer deaths recorded in 2015 [3]. Despite the increase in cervical and breast cancer cases, current cancer screening coverage and accessibility to screening services in Zimbabwe is still limited. Urban - rural disparities still exist (21% in urban as compared to 7% in rural áreas) [4, 5]
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