Abstract

AIM: Carcinoma of the cervix, the second most common cancer among women remains a public health problem. Though this preventable cancer occurs more commonly in the developing world, it is almost non-existent in developed countries where there are well established screening programs. The aim of this study is to determine the degree of awareness and practice of cervical smear as a screening procedure for cervical cancer among female nurses in a tertiary health facility in south-south Nigeria.
METHOD: Semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to all the female nurses at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
RESULTS: The ages of the respondents were between 21 - 60 years with the modal age group being 31- 40 years (48.9%). Majority of the respondents were married (59.7%) and 36.4% of them had practiced nursing for over 10 years. Majority of the respondents (94.3%) had heard of the cervical smear and 79.5% of the nurses knew that cervical smears were used to detect premalignant diseases of the cervix. Only 7.4% of the nurses had undergone screening for cervical cancer. Common reasons given by the respondents who had not screened were not being a candidate for cervical cancer (31.9%) and ignorance as to where screening is done (28.8%). The most common sources of information about cervical smear were the hospital (87.5%) and textbooks (13.6%).
CONCLUSION: The level of awareness of the cervical smear as a preventive tool for cervical cancer was high but utilization of the test was disappointingly low. Modern concepts of cancer prevention and control should be included in the curriculum of the school of nursing and nurses should be involved in the organisation of health talks to members of the community on cervical cancer and its prevention. The print and electronic media should be made to participate in the dissemination of information on the prevention of cervical cancer in our environment.

Key words: Cervical smear, female nurses, Uyo

Article Language: Turkish English