Knowledge and Attitude Towards Cervical Cancer Among Female Students in Chattogram, Bangladesh

Abstract

ix Abstract Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide, with an estimated 493,000 new cases and 274,000 deaths in 2002, about 83% of which occurred in developing countries. Knowledge and attitude of women towards cervical cancer and its preventive techniques is considered as one of the major factors to reduce the incidence. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge level and attitude features of different aspects of cervical cancer towards its available preventive measures among the of undergraduate female students in Chattogram through prescribed questionnaire. A total of 275 undergraduate female students from different educational institutes of Chattogram District were interviewed for this study. Analyses of the responses showed that 54.3% of the participants were between 20-24 years of age and 87% of students were unmarried. One third of the participants (30.1%) were studying in third year in respective courses. We observed that 76.4% of the respondents have heard about cervical cancer, however, only 24.6% of the participants had knowledge on different screening tests. Only 16.3% respondents (n=275) were able to name relevant tests. Although a good number of participants (58.3%) believe that cervical cancer is a preventable disease, very few students were found to be aware about the different methods of prevention. Surprisingly, a large number of participants (81.5%) did not consider the screening process as one of the effective methods of prevention. Among the respondents who have heard about cervical cancer, most of them heard it from their husband (12.38%), friends (11.52%), and other relatives (11.47%). The findings showed that although many participants have heard of cervical cancer but have insufficient knowledge on its cause, risk factors and preventive measures. Based on this, it might be recommended that awareness programs among ix Abstract Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide, with an estimated 493,000 new cases and 274,000 deaths in 2002, about 83% of which occurred in developing countries. Knowledge and attitude of women towards cervical cancer and its preventive techniques is considered as one of the major factors to reduce the incidence. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge level and attitude features of different aspects of cervical cancer towards its available preventive measures among the of undergraduate female students in Chattogram through prescribed questionnaire. A total of 275 undergraduate female students from different educational institutes of Chattogram District were interviewed for this study. Analyses of the responses showed that 54.3% of the participants were between 20-24 years of age and 87% of students were unmarried. One third of the participants (30.1%) were studying in third year in respective courses. We observed that 76.4% of the respondents have heard about cervical cancer, however, only 24.6% of the participants had knowledge on different screening tests. Only 16.3% respondents (n=275) were able to name relevant tests. Although a good number of participants (58.3%) believe that cervical cancer is a preventable disease, very few students were found to be aware about the different methods of prevention. Surprisingly, a large number of participants (81.5%) did not consider the screening process as one of the effective methods of prevention. Among the respondents who have heard about cervical cancer, most of them heard it from their husband (12.38%), friends (11.52%), and other relatives (11.47%). The findings showed that although many participants have heard of cervical cancer but have insufficient knowledge on its cause, risk factors and preventive measures. Based on this, it might be recommended that awareness programs among the female students at different levels of education in various institutions of the country to prevent cervical cancer. Further relevant campaign is necessary to successfully control and prevention of this important health issue especially in young women.