Awareness and Practice of Pap Smear among Female Hospital Workers in Abia State University Teaching Hospital Aba South East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in females worldwide and the commonest cancer in the female genital tract. Early detection is critical in the diagnosis. Objective: To determine the awareness and practice of pap smear among female health workers in Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH). Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among female hospital staff of (ABSUTH), About 150 questionnaires were administered out of which 124 responded giving a response rate of 82%. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Result: A total of 124 female workers; 76(61.3%) health workers and 48(38.7%) support staff participated in this study. Their mean age was 40.7 ±8.7 years. About 76(61.3%) of the respondent had heard of pap smear. However more than half of them 64(52.4%) were not aware that pap smear was being done in ABSUTH. Only 14(11.3%) of the respondents had done Pap smear previously. There was a statistically significant association between cadre of staff and awareness of pap smear (P < 0.001) in addition, health workers were about 4 times more likely to have ever heard of pap smear than support staff (OR 3.92, 95% CI 1.812- 8.45 P 0.00) Conclusion: The study observed a fair awareness and very poor practice of pap smear among female hospital staff who ought to be at the forefront in enlightening their environment.