Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices in Relation to Cervical Cancer Screening among Female Employees at King Abdulaziz University

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer ranks as the fourth most frequent cancer among women and the second most common female cancer in the women aged 15 to 44 years in world. In Saudi Arabia, there is a population of 2,784 million women aged 15 years and older who are at risk of developing cervical cancer. Current estimates in Saudi Arabia indicate that every year, 241 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 84 die from the disease. Aim:  The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to cervical cancer screening among female employees at King Abdulaziz University. Study Design: A quantitative descriptive design. Sampling: 380 female employees were selected through nonprobability, convenience sampling.Setting:This study was conducted atKing Abdulaziz Universityfemale section in its main branch (Alsulaimaniah).Studyperiod:From 10 November 2015 till 25 March 2016Tools:A Self-administered Questionnaire was adopted from literature to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to cervical cancer screening.Results: More than half of participants (55.3%) had adequate knowledge about cervical cancer and screening. Faculty members had significantly less knowledge than administrators (p= <0.001) and non-medical faculty members had significantly greater knowledge than medical faculty members (p=<0.001). Female employees had positive attitude toward cervical screening, their overall mean was (3.9 out of 5). Faculty members had significantly positive attitude more than administrators (p= 0.008) and those medical faculty had significantly positive attitude more than non-medical faculty members (p=0.001). Regarding uptake of screening, the majority (70.3%) reported they have never had cervical screening and about the third (29.7%) responded they had.Administrators significantly had low history of cervical screening than faculty members (p=0.005).Conclusions and recommendations:Female employees in KAU had adequate knowledge and positive attitude toward cervical cancer and its screening while their screening practice was poor. Improving awareness through education programs can improve women attitude and enhance screening uptake, also, a National Centre for cervical cancer screening in Saudi Arabia is required to cover all women who are at risk.