Cervical cancer screening utilization and associated factors among women living with HIV in South West Ethiopia

Cervical cancer is a public health challenge among reproductive-age women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Primarily cervical cancer affects vulnerable group of HIV-positive women more than others. Despite overwhelming evidence that cervical cancer screening reduces maternal morbidity and mortality, there is limited study on the utilization of cervical cancer screening among HIV-positive women in Ethiopia. Therefore this study was conducted to assess the utilization and associated factors of cervical cancer screening among HIV- positive women in south west Ethiopia. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 387 HIV-positive women from July to August 2021. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews and checklists. After data were checked, it was entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 23 for statistical analysis. Logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The association was reported using the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), and the level of statistical significance was declared with a P-value less than 0.05. The study revealed that 41.3%; (95% CI: 36.6-46.6) of HIV-positive women underwent cervical cancer screening. More than half (57.6%) of study participant' had heard about cervical cancer screening. Having multiple sexual partners (AOR = 3.13; 95%CI: 1.79-5.47), having a CD4 count less than 500cells/mm3 (AOR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.29-2.23) and ever hearing about premalignant cervical cancer (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.35-3.37) were independent predictors of cervical cancer screening utilization among HIV- positive women. The study found that utilization of cervical cancer screenings among HIV-positive was relatively low. Those who have multiple sexual partners, aCD4 count less than 500cell/mm3 and have ever heard about premalignant cervical cancer were more likely use cervical cancer screening. All concerned bodies should improve awareness to increase utilization and integrating the cervical cancer screening services with ART clinics in all settings.