Assessment of Cervical Cancer Pap Smear Utilisation for The Detection of Cervical Cancer Among Women in A Private University in Ogun State: Implication for Health Policy

The study assessed cervical cancer pap smear utilisation for the detection of cervical cancer among women in a Private University in Ogun state. This study specifically examined if the respondents are vulnerable to cervical cancer; the knowledge level of respondents regarding Pap smear test; the perception about Pap smear test among the respondents; the influence of demographic and other related factors on knowledge about Pap smear test; and the influence of demographic and other related factors on utilization of Pap smear among the respondents. The study design for this research was a cross sectional study. The total number of 387 female faculty and staff members (both teaching and non-teaching) of Babcock University was selected by Balloting for the study. The instrument for this study was a questionnaire which was well-structured to contain questions that elicited sufficient information from the respondents. The instrument was validated by experts and the internal consistency of the instrument was ascertained. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data collected. The findings of the result showed that the respondents have a good knowledge about Cervical Cancer but vulnerable to Cervical Cancer. The result also indicated overall poor perception of the respondents with respect to Pap smear screening while factors which positively influenced respondent knowledge included religious belief and perception. In addition, the findings shows that the factors which positively influenced uptake level included respondents’ religion, number of previous births, and access to information via mass media. It was recommended among others that cervical cancer screening should be introduced as one of the medical screening activities for new faculty and staff members and also a routine health checkup especially for women should be conducted. Keywords: Assessment, Cervical Cancer, Pap Smear, Utilisation,This article has been published at www.ijmnhs.com, Issue: 2, Vol.#2, April 2021