Effects of peer health education on perception and practice of screening for cervical cancer among urban residential women in south-east Nigeria: a before and after study

BMC Women's Health

Research Article

Uche Ezeoke¹  Cyril Dim²  Chinyere Mbachu³ 

[1] Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria;Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Health Policy Research Group, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria;

关键词: Cervical cancer;    Screening;    Peer education;    Perception;    Practice;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12905-017-0399-6

 received in 2016-09-23, accepted in 2017-06-05,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEffective female education on cervical cancer prevention has been shown to increase awareness and uptake of screening. However, sustaining increase in uptake poses a challenge to control efforts. Peer health education has been used as an effective tool for ensuring sustained behavior change. This study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of peer health education on perception, willingness to screen and uptake of cervical cancer screening by women.MethodsA before and after intervention study was undertaken in 2 urban cities in Enugu state, Nigeria among women of reproductive age attending women’s meeting in Anglican churches. Multistage sampling was used to select 300 women. Peer health education was provided once monthly for 3 consecutive sessions over a period of 3 months. Data was collected at baseline and after the intervention using pre-tested questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and tests of significance of observed differences and associations were done at p-value of <0.05.ResultsStatistical significant difference was observed in participants’ individual risk perception for cervical cancer and perception of benefits of early detection through screening. Practice of screening for cervical cancer increased by 6.8% and the observed difference was statistically significant (p = 0.02). This was significantly associated with marital status, level of education, employment status and parity (p < 0.05).ConclusionPeer health education is an effective strategy for increasing women’s perception of benefits of early detection of cervical cancer through screening. It is also effective for increasing their practice of screening for cervical cancer.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017