Knowledge and Screening Practices on Cervical Cancer among Health Workers in Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District

Abstract

Background: Although cervical cancer is preventable, thousands of women continue to be infected and thousands still die from the disease every year. Cervical cancer prevention can be achieved through comprehensive programs involving education or awareness creation, vaccination, screening and early treatment of pre-cancerous lesions. Health workers have a vital role to play in achieving this, hence they must be adequately equipped with the requisite knowledge on the condition since they are a source of information to their clients and the whole community. The main objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and screening practices on cervical cancer among health workers in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa district of the central region. The study further assessed factors influencing their decisions to screen. Methods: This was a cross sectional study. The study employed a stratified sampling technique in selecting the health facilities and simple random sampling to select 164 female health workers for the study. Data was collected from the participants with structured questionnaires and analyzed using STATA version 15. Descriptive data analysis technique, bivariate and logistic regression were used to assess the knowledge and screening practices and factors influencing screening among female health workers. Results: In all, 97% of the respondents had heard of cervical cancer. Most of them had average knowledge on its risk factors and symptoms. Despite this knowledge, screening practice among these health workers was low. Only 16% of the respondents had screened for cervical cancer. Majority of them were however willing to recommend screening to others. Cost of screening was significantly associated with screening. Conclusion: The study found average knowledge on cervical cancer among participants but with low knowledge on screening methods and an even lower screening practice. There is the need to increase awareness on the screening and institute measures to increase screening uptake.