Assessment of the current state of knowledge and risk factors of cervical cancer among women in the Buea Health District, Cameroon

• Published in: The Pan African medical journal Vol. 33; no. 38; p. 38
• Main Authors: Nkfusai, Ngwayu Claude, Cumber, Samuel Nambile, Anchang-Kimbi, Judith K, Nji, Kah Emmanuel, Shirinde, Joyce, Anong, Nota Damian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Uganda African Field Epidemiology Network 2019; The African Field Epidemiology Network; The Pan African Medical Journal
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap; Basic Medicine; Buea Health District; Cameroon; Cervical cancer; Cross-Sectional Studies; Developing countries; Disease prevention; Family medical history; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Sciences; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Hälsovetenskaper; Infections; Knowledge; LDCs; Low income groups; Medical screening; Medicinska grundvetenskaper; Middle Aged; Mortality; Other Medical Sciences; Population; Public health; Questionnaires; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - etiology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; women; Womens health; Young Adult; Cameroon; Africa; risk factors; Buea Health District; Cervical cancer; knowledge; women
• DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2019.33.38.16767
• EISSN: 1937-8688

Cervical cancer is a malignant proliferation of the cells of the uterine cervix and can be treated if diagnosed earlier. It is the second most common gynecological malignancy worldwide and the leading cause of cancer associated mortality among women in Africa and Cameroon. This study sort to determine the current state of knowledge of cervical cancer and its risk factors in the Buea Health District of the South West Region of Cameroon.
This was a cross-sectional community based survey. We recruited 433 eligible women, in four (4) Health Areas (Molyko, Bolifamba, Muea and Buea Town) of the Buea Health District and used validated and pre-tested questionnaires to collect data. Collected data were keyed into Epi info version 7.2 statistical software and exported to SPSS Version 25 for analysis. Level of significance was set at P-value < 0.05.
Fifty eight percent (58%) of the participants had good knowledge of cervical cancer. 58.99% (95%CI = 54.30-63.52) had good knowledge on the risk factors of cervical cancer. 40% knew at least one of the following risk factors; cigarette smoking, many sexual partners, family history of cervical cancer, being HIV/AIDS positive and giving birth 5 or more times. There was a significant association, OR = 7.5; 95%CI = 2.14-26.33; P = 0.001; X
= 11.4 between having heard of cervical cancer and having "good" knowledge of cervical cancer among women in Buea.
Most of the women had heard of cervical cancer but the knowledge of the risk factors of cervical cancer among women aged 18-68 years in the Buea Health District is low. We found no association between awareness and knowledge of risk factors among the women.