Sociodemographic and behavioral risk factors for cervical cancer, its awareness and preventive practices among reproductive age group women in a slum area of Kolkata

Background and objectives: Women residing in Indian slums remain at risk of developing cervical cancer because of lack of awareness and effective screening programs. This study aimed at identifying sociodemographic and behavioral risk factors for cervical cancer, its awareness, and preventive practices among reproductive age-group women in a slum of Kolkata. Materials and methods: A descriptive, observational study with cross-sectional design, was conducted among women of age group 15 - 49 years residing in a slum area. A predesigned, pretested and semi-structured schedule was employed to obtain data from the study participants. Questionaire contained domains of sociodemographic characteristics, awareness regarding cervical cancer, behavioral risk factors and preventive practices. Data was analyzed using appropriate statistical tests and association of sociodemographic characteristics with awareness was assessed using binary logistic regression. Results: A total of 215 women were enrolled in the study and 62.8% were married and majority (61.8%) had secondary school and above level of education. Nearly 77% participants did not prefer to use barrier contraceptive methods and 8% had a history of unsafe abortion. Majority (76.3%) were unaware of cervical cancer. Out of 51 (23.7%) participants who were aware of the cervical caner, only 9.8% and 17.6% of the them could correctly identify the risk factors and signs and symptoms of cervical cancer respectively. Only 2 (3.9%) and 11 (21.5%) had heard about the screening methods and vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer respectively. Conclusion: Extensive health promotion and educational campaigns are required to generate awareness against cervical cancer in under privileged community. January 2025; Vol. 19(1):006. DOI:https://doi.org/10.55010/imcjms.19.006 Correspondence: Mausumi Basu, Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGME&R), Kolkata- 700020, India. Email: [email protected]; © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).