Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Market Women towards Papanicolaou Smear Screening in Abakaliki Metropolis

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide and the most common cancer among women in developing countries including Nigeria. The estimated incidence in Nigeria is twenty-five out of a hundred thousand women. In most developing countries, poor public health awareness has contributed to the late diagnosis of the disease and poor clinical outcomes. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of market women towards Papanicolaou smear screening in Abakaliki metropolis. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study Result: The result showed that 42.48% of the 306 market women have heard about cervical cancer, and 46.85% of them (143 women) knew of cervical cancer screening. There was a fairly positive attitude towards pap smear screening as 69.28% of the 306 women said they would do the screening if made available. However, the practice was poor as only 4.93% (15 out of the 304 women) had done Pap smear screening for cervical cancer, all of whom were women with tertiary level of education. This study establishes that the Attitude was good as 69.28% agreed they would do the test. While the level of Knowledge of cervical cancer screening was poor (46.85%), the Practice was much poorer as only 4.93% of the respondents ever had cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: There is good knowledge but poor attitude and practice of market women towards Papanicolaou Smear Screening in Abakaliki Metropolis. Public Health awareness and education must be encouraged and sustained to increase the utilisation of pap smear screening services at all levels of healthcare to enhance the prevention and/or diagnosis of cervical cancer especially among market women in Abakaliki Metropolis.