Outcome of Educational Programme on Cervical Cancer Risk Perception and Screening Intention among Market Women in Ibadan, Oyo State (Published)

Cervical cancer remains a major public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries, where poor awareness, low risk perception, and limited screening uptake contribute significantly to its burden. This study assessed the outcome of an educational programme on cervical cancer risk perception and screening intention among market women in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design was adopted, involving 184 participants selected through multistage sampling and assigned to intervention and control groups. Data were collected using a validated semi-structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at a 0.05 level of significance. At baseline, participants in both groups demonstrated poor risk perception and low screening intention. Only 20.7% of the intervention group and 8.7% of the control group had ever undergone cervical cancer screening, while 27.2% and 29.3%, respectively, expressed intention to screen. Following the educational intervention, risk perception significantly improved in the intervention group, with mean scores increasing from 32.1±10.6 to 40.7±9.0 compared to 33.5±10.2 in the control group (t=5.305, p=0.0001). Similarly, screening intention increased from 27.2% to 65.2% in the intervention group, compared to a marginal rise from 29.3% to 31.5% in the control group (p=0.0001). Ignorance was identified as the major barrier to screening uptake. The study concludes that educational intervention is effective in improving cervical cancer risk perception and screening intention among market women.

Keywords: Educational intervention, Market women, Screening intention, cervical cancer, risk perception

Awareness and Utilization of Cervical Cancer Screening Among Primary Health Care Workers in Ilesa, Osun State (Published)

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cervix which is a cylinder that connects the lower part of a woman’s uterus to her vagina. The study investigated the awareness and utilization of cervical cancer screening services among primary health care workers in Ilesa, Osun state. The study adopted the descriptive cross-sectional research design. The sample size was determined by Taro Yamane, which was 192. Proportionate random sampling technique was used to select female primary healthcare workers. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire which was divided into three sections. The instrument was subjected to face and content validity. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient for the constructs ranged from 0.72 to 0.85. The descriptive statistics was employed to answer the research questions, while Pearson correlation and chi-square analysis were employed to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that level of awareness and utilisation of cervical cancer screening services was moderate. There was significant relationship between the level of awareness and utilization of cervical screening services among primary health workers (r = .272, p = .000<0.05). Only age (x² = 25.533, p = .003 < 0.05) and ethnicity (x² = 18.520, p = .005 < 0.05) were related to level of awareness of cervical screening services while age (x² = 28.549, p = .000 < 0.05), marital status (x² = 9.077, p = .011< 0.05), monthly income (x² = 19.347, p = .000 < 0.05) and educational qualifications (x² = 51.004, p = .000 < 0.05) were related to level of utilisation of cervical screening services among primary health workers. It was recommended among others that there is need to establish cervical cancer screening education programmes among health care professionals at all levels, especially among nurses.

Keywords: Health Care Workers, Screening, Utilization, awareness, cervical cancer