Abstract:
Background: Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of control. Cancer is
always named for the part of the body where it starts, even if it spreads to other body parts later.
Cervical cancer is one of the commonest cancers of women. It represents about 12% of all
cancers in females, and more than half of them die from it. Rising evidences claims that
screening programs are effective in reducing morbidity and mortality from the disease. To date
researches are not conducted entirely on community based and are not included the three
domains, hence the current study will investigate reaching the community to identify the KAP of
cervical cancer screening among reproductive age women in the study area.
Objectives: The study is aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of
cervical cancer screening and associated factors among reproductive-age women in Jimma town,
South West Ethiopia.
Method: Community based cross-sectional study was employed among 1238 selected
reproductive age women in Jimma Town selected Keble. Systematic random sampling was
employed using calculated k interval. Data was coded and entered in to Epi-Data version 3.1
then cleaned and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Nine hundred five (905)
reproductive-age women participated in the study making the response rate 99.67%. Uneducated
woman, a woman who completed primary education, and a woman who completed secondary
education was 93 % (AOR=0.07; 95% CI: 0.02-0.21), 89% (AOR=0.11; 95% CI: 0.04-0.26), and
71% (AOR=0.29; 95%CI: 0.14-0.63) less likely to have good knowledge of cervical cancer as
compared to a woman who completed a higher education respectively. The odds of good
knowledge of cervical cancer among the women who married at their age of greater than or equal
to 18 years was 2.15 (AOR=2.15; 95% CI: 1.27-3.64) times more likely than the odds of good
knowledge of cervical cancer among the women who married at their age of less than 18 years.
Conclusion and Recommendation: Knowledge and practice of cervical cancer is low.
Educational status, age Antenatal care follow up, distance from health facility are significant
variables. Increase awareness and practice of cervical cancer screening services crucial.
