Health care seeking behaviour towards cervical cancer screening among women aged 30-49 years in Arbaminch town, Southern Ethiopia, 2023.

Background: Cervical cancer is a preventable disease. However, it remains the commonest and deadly cancer in women worldwide. Health care seeking behaviour is not well studied in Ethiopia even though it is crucial in averting cervical cancer by maximizing cervical cancer screening utilization. Therefore, this study amid to assess health care seeking behaviour towards cervical cancer screening and its associated factors among women aged 30-49 years in Arba Minch town, Southern Ethiopia, 2023.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted on 414 women who are in the age range of 30-49 in Arba Minch town from January 2-February20, 2023. Study participants were selected by a simple random sampling technique from all kebeles and data were collected using pretested interviewer administered questionnaires. SPSS version 27 was used to conduct binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents were described using descriptive statistics. Furthermore, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were made to find the factors associated with health care seeking behaviour. Variables with a p-value less than 0.25 on binary logistic regression were selected for multivariable logistic regression. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The reliability and internal consistency of the constructs of health belief model were calculated independently using Cronbach's alpha.

Result: The prevalence of health care seeking behaviour towards cervical cancer screening was 197(47.6%) [95%CI: 42.7-52.5%]. Respondents' good knowledge [AOR = 1.55, 95%CI: 1.01-2.39], positive perceived susceptibility [AOR = 3.63, 95%CI: 2.06-6.42], positive perceived severity [AOR = 2.65, 95%CI: 1.71-4.09], positive perceived benefits [AOR = 4.85, 95%CI: 2.92-7.87] were significantly associated with health seeking behaviour.

Conclusion: The prevalence of health care seeking behaviour towards cervical cancer screening is low in this study. To maximize the health care seeking behavior of women, further acting on perceived susceptibility, respondents' knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived benefit of the woman are crucial.