KNOWLEDGE, RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES OF CERVICAL CANCER AMONG TERTIARY STUDENTS IN TARABA STATE, NIGERIA
Abstract
Taraba State is one of the states with a high incidence rate of cervical cancer in Nigeria especially; cervical cancer leads to a reduction in cancer incidence and prevalence. As the results of these incidences, this paper assessed the knowledge, risk factors, and preventive strategies for cervical cancer among female tertiary students in Taraba State. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on 250 randomly sampled students. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics with aid of a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version, 23). The results showed that female students in tertiary institutions have good knowledge of cervical cancer. In addition, infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), multiple sexual partners, early age of sexual intercourse, and early age at first full-term pregnancy as well as family history was identified as the major risk factors for cervical cancer. Thus, avoidance of multiple sex partners, avoidance of early age sexual intercourse, avoidance of early age pregnancy, and vaccination of human papillomavirus are the major strategies to preventing being contacted with cervical cancer among women. The paper, therefore, recommends among others that: more efforts should be giant towards creating awareness among the youths especially females via enlightenment programs, workshops, and seminars by health professionals on the causes, signs, and symptoms as well as the effects of contracting cervical cancer in order to curtail the incidence of cervical cancer to its barest minimum. Young female students in tertiary institutions are encouraged to avoid early sexual intercourse or even abstain from premarital sex in order not to be contacted with cervical cancer. Again, students should as a matter of fact visit any nearby screening center to know their status for early detection and possible treatment if detected as accepted by the majority of the respondents that cervical cancer is curable when detected at its early stage.
Downloads
References
Abudukadeer, H., Ezechi, OC., Gab-Okafor, CV., Ostergren, PO., & Pettersson, KO. (2015). Willingness and acceptability of cervical cancer screening among HIV positive Nigerian women. BMC Public Health. 2015;13(1):46.
Bray, F., Parkin, DM. & Paola, P. (2018). Global cancer statistics, 2018. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 2018; 55: 74–108.
Ferlay J, Shin HR, Bray F, Forman D, Mathers C, Parkin DM. GLOBOCAN (2018). Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2018.
Gebreegziabher, J., Asefa, AD., & Berhe, M. (2016). Awareness of cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms: cross-sectional community survey in post-conflict northern Uganda. Health Expect. 2016;19(4):854–867.
Lewis, F. (2014). Knowledge about cervical cancer and associated factors among 15-49 year old women in Dessie Town, Northeast Ethiopia. PLoS One. 2016;11(9).
Makwe, C. C., Anorlu, R. I., & Odeyemi, K. A. (2012). Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and vaccines: Knowledge, attitude and perception among female students at the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria. Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health, 2(4), 199-206.
Sankaranarayanan, R., Budukh, AM. & Rajkumar, R. (2011). Effective screening programmes for cervical cancer in low- and middle-income developing countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2011; 79: 954–962.
Sawadogo, K.L., Hakama, M., Chamberlain, J., Day, NE., Miller, AB. & Prorok, PC. (2014). Evaluation of screening programmes for gynaecological cancer. British journal of cancer, 2014; 52: 669–673.
World Health Organisation. (2018). Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer summary report of Ghana Vaccine (Vol. 25): World Health Organisation: Latest global cancer data. International Agency for Research on Cancer, September, 2018, 13-15.
World Health Organization (2016). Comprehensive Cervical Cancer Control; A Guide to Essential Practice. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press, World Health Organization, 2016.
Copyright (c) 2022 Dugule, Dorcas Sir-Gawi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Author(s) and co-author(s) jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere. Author(s) agree to the terms that the GPH Journal will have the full right to remove the published article on any misconduct found in the published article.
