Abstract:
Background: Cervical cancer knowledge and awareness, as well as an individual’s perceptions about cervical
cancer have been shown to significantly influence the screening practices of female students. Despite these studies,
the mechanisms linking cervical cancer knowledge to screening practices among female students remain
unexplored in the literature. Thus, this study examined the direct and indirect influences of cervical cancer
knowledge on screening practices through perceptions about cervical cancer as informed by the health belief
model.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey design with a purposive sample of 200 female students were used in the study.
Standardized questionnaires were used to measure cervical cancer knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived
seriousness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers and cervical cancer screening behaviours. The Pearson productmoment
correlation co-efficient and mediation analyses were used to analyse the data.
Results: Our findings showed that cervical cancer knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness and
perceived benefits were significant and positively correlated with increased screening behaviours. However, only
perceived seriousness significantly mediated the relationship between cervical cancer knowledge and screening
behaviour. Cervical cancer knowledge remained a significant direct predictor of screening behaviour in all the
models.
Conclusion: These findings underscore the need for increased awareness with emphasis on the seriousness of
cervical cancer among female university students as it plays a key role in influencing their screening behaviours.
