KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ON CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING IN PUBLIC HEALTH CENTERS OF ADDIS ABABA, SEPTEBMER 2023.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Cervical cancer is preventable and remains a leading cause of avoidable death among women in the world. In a developing country, the knowledge of screening for cervical cancer behavior is still very low. Barriers at multiple levels impact effective screening and treatment, including a lack of knowledge about cervical cancer and how regular screening can reduce morbidity and mortality through earlier detection. Objective: - The main aim of this study was to assess knowledge, Practice and Attitude of health care providers on cervical cancer screening in selected public health centers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2023. Methods: - A facility based cross-sectional study was carried out and a total sample of 557 health care providers from the selected health center was included. Data was collected using selfadministered questionnaire and entered and cleaned using Epi data version 3.1 and analysis was done using SPSS version 23.0 statistical software. Results: The findings were summarized using a table, figure, and narratives. There was a total of 525 participants who completed the questionnaire and out of these 340 were female respondents. Majority (88%,467) of study participants said cervical cancer is a preventable disease. Having multiple sexual partner (92.4%,486) and post capital bleeding (89%,468) were the most mentioned risk factor and clinical manifestation of cervical cancer respectively. More than three fourth (87%) of respondents agreed screening for cervical cancer should be done for a woman not having sign and symptoms of the disease. But only one third of study participants had experience in doing Pap smear and VIA/VILI. Conclusion and recommendation: This study revealed a relatively low level of knowledge towards cervical cancer etiology and prevention, risk factor and sign and symptoms. Also, the present study revealed a relatively low level of practice towards cervical cancer screening. Based on the finding on job/off-job trainings need to be enhanced, regular awareness creation has to be given for the service providers. Key words: knowledge, practice, attitude, cervical cancer, primary health care providers