Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women Attending Health Facilities in Central Ethiopia.

Background: In Ethiopia, cervical cancer ranked as the second leading cause of female cancer and also stands as the most common cancer among women aged from 15 to 44 years old. Hence, this study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice toward cervical cancer screening among women attending health facilities in central Ethiopia.

Methods: Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 study participants. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The collected data were entered into EPI data 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Binary and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and practice of cervical cancer screening. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI and a -value < .05 were used to declare statistical significance.

Results: Half, 50.7% of study participants had good knowledge. Less than half, 46.1% had a positive attitude toward cervical cancer screening. Only 6.3% of women have been screened for cervical cancer. Diploma and above education (AOR: 2.22, 95% CI: 1.32, 6.157), no idea about cervical cancer curable at an early stage (AOR: 6.23, 95% CI: 6.23 (2.77, 15.13) were significantly associated with knowledge of cervical cancer screening. Diploma and above education (AOR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.74) and multiple sexual partners (AOR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.62) were factors associated with a negative attitude toward cervical cancer screening. Positive attitude about cervical cancer screening (AOR: 2.37, 95% CI: 1.91, 6.20) was significantly associated with the practice of being screened.

Conclusions: Cervical cancer screening knowledge and attitudes were moderate, but practice was low. Educational status, considering cervical cancer is not curable at an early stage and not having an idea about its curability at an early stage, was significantly associated with knowledge of cervical cancer screening. Sexual partner status and educational status showed significant association with an attitude toward cervical cancer screening and having a positive attitude toward cervical cancer screening were significantly associated with the practice of cervical cancer screening. Health professionals need to disseminate cervical cancer screening information and offer cervical cancer treatment during health-care appointments.