Knowledge and Practice of Cervical Cancer Screening among Women in Orlu Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria.

Background: Cervical cancer is the 2nd commonest cancer among women worldwide and the most common cancer among women in developing countries like Nigeria. Though preventable by screening for premalignant and early cervical lesions, this is predicated on the knowledge and practice of a cervical screening. Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening among women in Orlu, Local Government Area(LGA) Imo State, Nigeria. Materials & Methods: A community based cross-sectional study with the use of 502 interviewer – administered questionnaires was conducted among women in Orlu LGA of Imo State. All the women in the communities attending the annual August Meeting who consented were recruited for this study. Results: The study showed that the mean age of the respondents was 42±2.8years. Furthermore, 82.3% of respondents attained postsecondary school educational level, 61.8% & 21.1% were multiparous and grand multiparous respectively. Also, 80.5% of respondents have heard about cervical cancer screening. Majority (67.5%) of these respondents heard it from health care providers. There was a positive statistically significant relationship between educational status and the likelihood of having knowledge of cervical cancer screening, (p< 0.01). The level of practice of cervical cancer screening was very low among the respondents(13.5%).Though majority of the respondents have high level of educational attainment this did not reflect their practice of cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: There was high knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical screening modalities among women in Orlu but their practice of cervical cancer screening was very low. There is an urgent need to educate and encourage women on the benefits of cervical cancer screening. Key words: cervical cancer, knowledge, Practice, Orlu women, Screening.