Orotta College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Asmara Eritrea

Ministry of Health, Eritrea.

Ministry of Health, Eritrea.

Ministry of Health, Eritrea.

Ministry of Health, Eritrea.

Associate Professor, Department of Human Morphology, Medical Institute of North Caucasian State Academy, Cherkessk, Russia.
students ,female ,knowledge ,attitude ,practice ,Pap smear ,ACHS ,

Back ground: Cervical cancer remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity among women. It is the second most common cancer in women in the world with 500,000 new cases each year and 80% prevalent in low resource countries. Early screening for cervical cancer is a key intervention to tackle the burden of the disease. Therefore, the aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitude & practice towards cervical cancer screening using Pap smear among all degree female students in ACHS in 2018. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive quantitative study design was applied. Complete enumeration was used to collect data using self-administered questionnaire. Categorical variables and differences in distribution were tested using Chi-square (χ2) test to compute their proportions. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was subsequently undertaken to evaluate the relationship between the variables of interest. P-values less than 0.05 was set as statistical significance. Results: A total of 180 female Bachelor of Science students participated in the study. Thirty one (17.3%) of the participants had good level of knowledge, 106 (58.9%) had positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening but none of them were screened for cervical cancer. The main reasons were lack of information, assumption of being healthy and not deciding. The main source of information was schooling. There was no association between knowledge and attitude. Conclusions: Despite the availability of screening service of Pap smear for cervical cancer in Eritrea, the majority of participants had gap in knowledge, attitude and zero practice. Therefore, major intervention is needed to aware females about availability and the utilization of Pap smear screening for preventive measures of cervical cancer

9 , 2 , 2019