RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The attitude and knowledge of cervical cancer by Cameroonian women; a clinical survey conducted in Maroua, the capital of Far North Province of Cameroon
JF International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer
JO Int J Gynecol Cancer
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 761
OP 765
DO 10.1136/ijgc-00009577-200807000-00023
VO 18
IS 4
A1 P.-M. Tebeu
A1 A. L. Major
A1 E. Rapiti
A1 P. Petignat
A1 C. Bouchardy
A1 Z. Sando
A1 L. De Bernis
A1 L. Ali
A1 P. Mhawech-Fauceglia
YR 2008
UL http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/18/4/761.abstract
AB This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and assumption of cervical cancer by women living in Maroua, the capital of the Far North Province of Cameroon. In a 1-month period, 171 women were surveyed as to their socioeconomic status, sexual habits, prior knowledge of cervical cancer, its prevention, and their attitudes toward cervical cancer. Of 171 women, 48 (28%) had prior knowledge of cervical cancer; they were classified as the “ aware group” compared with 123 of 171 (72%) women who were uninformed about cervical cancer and they were classified as the “ unaware group” (UG). The UG of women tended to be single mothers, illiterate, housewives, and had their first child before the age of 20 (P< 0.005). Despite the awareness of cervical cancer by 28% of women, only a minority of them, 4 of 48 (8.3%), underwent a preventative screening test. Only 71 of 171 (41.5%) women stated that they would be having a screening test in the future. The awareness of cervical cancer by women in Cameroon is still inadequate. Thus, to avoid deaths from cervical cancer, a curable and preventable disease, the need of an aggressive campaign to make Cameroonian women aware of cervical cancer and its prevention is needed.