Women of Child Bearing Age Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice on Pap Smear Screening in Okongo Health District on Ohangwena Region, Namibia

The Pap smear screening is a technique that is used to gather cells from the cervix for cervical cytology testing which recognize the advancement of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) that cause cervical cancer. The study assessed knowledge, attitudes and practice of women of childbearing age on Pap smear screening in Okongo health district of Ohangwena region. A quantitative analytical cross-sectional study was adopted to collect data from 238 participants aged 16-49 years in Okongo district as from the period of April to September 2023 using structured questionnaires that were entered in Microsoft excel and exported into Epi Info version 7.2.6 for analysis. Among participants, the majority of respondents (56%), were from the age group of 25-34 years, single (68.9 %) and residing in rural areas (81.9 %). 91.6 % of respondents had good knowledge towards Pap smear screening mainly informed by health care workers. A mixed attitude towards Pap smear screening was observed in the study with a larger proportion of respondents scored unfavorable score (56.7%). Practice towards Pap smear was encouraging with 64.3 % of respondents previously being screened for Pap smear. The study showed statistically significant associations between educational level and both awareness of Pap smear screening (P value 0.04) and practice (P value 0.02) as well as the significant association between attitudes and screening practices (P value 0.04). Health education and accessibility of screening services will be essential in achieving higher participation rates and ultimately reducing the incidence of cervical cancer.