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Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of Clients Regarding Cervical Cancer Screening at Gynecology Consultations of the University Hospital of Cocody

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Abstract

Background

Cervical cancer (CC) is a public health problem because of its increasing prevalence and mortality in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective

To study knowledge, attitudes, and practices about CC and screening among women in a referral hospital in Côte d'Ivoire, a sub-Saharan African country.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional study, from September 1, 2020 to March 1, 2021, in the obstetric gynecology consultation unit of the University Hospital of Cocody. It included patients who gave informed consent. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Epi data 3.1 software (CDC Atlanta-USA).

Results

1200 women were included (47.2%) with a mean age of 32 years. General knowledge ranged from 6.2 to 32.7% and main risk factors were advanced age (75.2%), HIV infection (60.3%), early marriage (38.2%), and multiple sexual partners (25.8%). 975 women were able to provide a response (81.3%). 85.2% of women identified signs and symptoms: vaginal bleeding (83.6%), intermenstrual bleeding (65.1%), and foul-smelling discharge (11.9%). The level of knowledge of screening was 79% for PAP smear, 72.6% for VIA and 14.2% for LBC. A positive attitude was observed since 87.8% declared they wanted to perform screening. A significant practice (60.4%) was demonstrated, and the screening tests used were visual inspection with acetic acid (52.6%), Pap smear (39.8%) and liquid-based cytology (7.6%).

Conclusion

We revealed a good knowledge of reality of CC, but effective information, education and communication strategies are needed to improve the level of awareness about risk factors, symptoms and preventive methods.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the participants in the survey, as well as the staff of the gynecology-obstétrics department of the University Hospital of Cocody.

Funding

The authors received no funding for the production of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Medical Sciences Training and Research Unit of, Felix Houphouet Boigny University of Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Dehi Boston Mian, Sow Victor Koffi, Roland Adjoby, Eleonore Gbary, Koffi N’guessan & Serge Boni

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Christiane Jivir Nsahlai

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Cocody, BP V13, Abidjan 01, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Serge Boni

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Cocody, BP V166, Abidjan 01, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Serge Boni

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [DBM], [SVK], [CJN], [RA], and [EG]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [DBM] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dehi Boston Mian.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Legal permissions to begin the study were obtained from the National Research and Ethics Committee of Côte d'Ivoire.

Consent to Participate

Verbal informed consent was obtained prior to the interview.

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Dehi Boston Mian is a Professor, Sow Victor Koffi is a Asst. Professor, Christiane Jivir Nsahlai is a Asst. Professor, Roland Adjoby is Professor, Eleonore Gbary is a Asst. Professor, Koffi Nguessan is a Professor, Serge Boni is a Professor.

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Mian, D.B., Koffi, S.V., Nsahlai, C.J. et al. Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of Clients Regarding Cervical Cancer Screening at Gynecology Consultations of the University Hospital of Cocody. J Obstet Gynecol India 73 (Suppl 1), 166–171 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-023-01816-1

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