KNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPTABILITY OF CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING AMONG WOMEN OF CHILD BEARING AGE IN MUTH, ELELE, RIVERS STATE

ABSTRACT Cancer of the cervix remains the most common malignant neoplasm of the female genitalia and the second most common cancer in women. Cervical Cancer (CC) screening serves to detect the possibility that a cancer is present. The main objective of the study was to determine the Knowledge and Acceptability of Cervical Cancer Screening among Women of Child Bearing age in MUTH, Elele, Rivers State. Survey research design was used in the study. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample. The sample consisted of 230 women of child bearing age in MUTH, Elele, Rivers State. Data was collected using questionnaire. For a comprehensive analysis of data collected, emphasis was laid on the use of absolute numbers frequencies of responses and percentages. The study findings revealed that most 108 (47.0%) of the respondents were between the age of 26-40 years. 83 (36.0%) of the respondents had a high level of knowledge of CC screening, 54 (23.5%) of the respondents agreed to pap test being the test for CC, and 71 (30.9%) of the respondents agreed to do a cervical screening test. Also, 81 (35.2%) of the respondents agreed that they did not have the correct information on CC screening, about 27 (11.7% ) and 59 (25.7%) of the respondents, respectively, strongly agreed and agreed that they were scared of being diagnosed with CC, and 88 (26.1%) of the respondents strongly disagreed that screening is embarrassing for them. From this study, it can be concluded that the respondents are knowledgeable about CC screening. Similarly, they demonstrated a high level of acceptability of CC screening. However, a significant proportion were yet to be screened. Therefore, it is important to make screening facilities available for women of child bearing age in MUTH. Keywords: cancer, cervix, screening, knowledge, acceptability