Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the 2nd most common and the deadliest gynecological malignancy in Nigeria; yet very little is known about women’s knowledge about the disease in our environment. We evaluated the levels of awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors and symptoms among the Nigerian women, and also determined the factors that predict it. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 400 women attending out-patient clinics at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. Using a structured questionnaire, we assessed their knowledge of ovarian cancer risk factors and symptoms and the factors that influence it. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Sixty-three percent of the participants were found to be aware of the disease, whereas only 19.5% and 14.0% demonstrated good knowledge of its symptoms and risk factors, respectively. High level of education and previous conversation with a doctor on ovarian cancer were the only factors that significantly predicted good knowledge of symptoms and risk factors (p < 0.05). The knowledge of ovarian cancer is extremely poor among women in Lagos, Nigeria. Education of the girl child and health education of women about the disease by healthcare providers is important. This will significantly enhance women’s knowledge and encourage early presentation and detection of the disease.
Highlights
Ovarian cancer is one of the most challenging gynecological cancers in the world, with profound negative effect on the quality and length of life and with more than 70% of the women diagnosed with advanced disease [1,2]
Our study revealed that among the several factors that were significantly associated with good knowledge of the ovarian cancer, only educational status of the women and history of previous discussion about ovarian cancer with a doctor were the only factors that significantly predicted good knowledge of both symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer
The knowledge of the symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer is very poor among Nigerian women
Summary
Ovarian cancer is one of the most challenging gynecological cancers in the world, with profound negative effect on the quality and length of life and with more than 70% of the women diagnosed with advanced disease [1,2]. Ovarian cancer is the 7th commonest cancer in women; accounting for only 3.6% of various cancers diagnosed in women It is the 3rd commonest genital tract malignancy after cancers of the cervix and uterus with estimated 238,719 new cases seen in 2012 [3]. It is the leading cause of genital cancer mortality in developed countries with estimated age standardized mortality rate of 5.0 per 100,000 women [3] and a lifetime risk of 1.37% in the United States [4]. In Nigeria, ovarian cancer is the 6th commonest cancer in women and the 2nd commonest genital tract cancer It accounted for 1723 incident cases in 2012 with estimated age standardized incidence rate of 3.1 per 100,000 women. It is the 2nd leading cause of female genital cancer related deaths in the
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