Barriers to utilization of cervical cancer screening services among women of reproductive age in Ondo, southwest Nigeria

Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among women of reproductive age group; yet screening for early detection of the disease among them is not a common practice in Nigeria. This study therefore, investigated the barriers to utilization of cervical cancer screening service among women of reproductive age in Ondo town, Ondo State. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was adopted using a four-stage sampling technique to select 244 consenting women of reproductive age in Ondo town. A validated interviewer administered questionnaire was used to solicit information on CC-related knowledge and perception, utilization and barriers to utilization of the screening services. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test at p<0.05. Respondents’ mean age was 30±6.8 years, 70.9% were married and 58.2% had tertiary education. Majority (73.8%) had heard about CC and 67.8% correctly defined CC. Mean knowledge score was 17.1±5.3. Respondents with poor, fair and good knowledge of CC were 11.1%, 53.3%, and 35.6% respectively. Positive perception towards CC was reported by 42.6% of respondents. Only (15.6%) of the respondents have done screening for CC and the decision to do the screening was personal in 78.6% of the respondents. Main barriers hindering the utilization of CC screening services were: fear of the result (65.1%), negative attitudes of health worker (51.3%) and husband’s influence on decision (51.0%). CC knowledge of respondents was not significantly associated with utilization of cervical screening service (X2 =3.117 P>0.05). Low utilization of the screening services based on perceived misconception was noticed among study participants. Health promotion strategies that will target women and their spouse are therefore recommended. Health workers should help change perception of non-susceptibility of the women