Tanusree Sarkar1, Shafiur Rahman2, Sathya Ranjan Roy3, Abdul khalique Bar-bhuiya4, Shariful Islam5, Shamrat Adnan chowdhury6,
Abstract
Most of the cervical cancer cases are diagnosed in late stage leading to poor outcomes. Very few studies have explored the awareness of women about cervical cancer and its screening test. This study was conducted with the objective of assessing the knowledge of women about cervical cancer, its screening, source of information about cervical cancer. The objective of the study was also to evaluate whether respondents have ever gone through screening test and identify the reasons if not underwent for screening test. This cross-sectional study was conducted among the women of two selected villages of Golapgonj upozila. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed and data were collected by face to face interview. Study has been conducted on 113 women; 31% respondents belonged to the age group of 25-34 years. 93.81% of respondents were married. All 113 were asked, whether they have heard about the cancer of cervix, of them 84.96% women heard the name of cervical cancer, 62.5% had no idea about risk factors and 81.25% had no idea about symptoms of cervical cancer. Highest proportion of respondents (62.5%) acquired this knowledge from television. Out of 84.96% women 18.75% knew about the test for early detection of cervical cancer; only 5.56% knew the name of Pap test, 83.33% women had no idea about the eligibility for screening test. Among 18.75% of respondents who knew about the screening test, 94.45% had not gone for that. This study strongly revealed the necessity of women’s awareness regarding cervical cancer and its screening test.
Key words: Cervical cancer, Awareness and Screening test.