Uptake of cervical cancer screening and associated factors among women of childbearing age – evidence from a cross-sectional survey in northern Ghana

Cervical cancer is a public health concern globally and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Early detection is critical for a successful treatment. This study assessed the uptake of cervical cancer screening and its associated factors among women in a deprived district of northern Ghana. The study used a facility-based cross-sectional design, where we randomly sampled women aged 18 to 49 years from proportionately allocated sample sizes across five health facilities after clustering. Our study used structured tools designed using Google forms and collected data over two months in 2023. We analyzed the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20, summarized the descriptive statistics into percentages, and analyzed the factors of association between cervical cancer screening uptake and selected independent variables using logistic regression model ( p < 0.05). There was a 97.9% ( n = 291) response rate. Of the total respondents, 178(61.5%) were married, 171(58.7%) were employed, while 233(80.1%) had tertiary education. The results showed that 17% of the study participants had undergone at least one cervical cancer screening. Aged 25–34; aOR: 1.24 (95% CI:1.06,3.35), p = 0.006 and 35–44; aOR: 1.81 (95% CI: 1.28, 4.32), p = 0.003 were more likely to undergo cervical cancer screening as compared to those aged 15–24. Unemployed women were 0.08 times likely to undergo cervical cancer screening; aOR: 0.08 (95% CI: 0.02, 0.42), p = 0.003. Additionally, knowing the location of screening centres increased the odds of screening uptake by 7.17 times; aOR: 7.17 (95% CI: 2.03, 9.33), p = 0.002. Cervical cancer screening uptake was low in the study setting. Age, employment, and treatment centre knowledge were associated with the odds of cervical cancer screening uptake.