Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 5;20(1):49.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-020-00915-9.

Cervical cancer screening practices among women in Ghana: evidence from wave 2 of the WHO study on global AGEing and adult health

Benedict N L Calys-Tagoe  1 , Justice M K Aheto  2 , George Mensah  1 , Richard B Biritwum  1 , Alfred E Yawson  1   3
Affiliations

Cervical cancer screening practices among women in Ghana: evidence from wave 2 of the WHO study on global AGEing and adult health

Benedict N L Calys-Tagoe et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer that affects women worldwide. It has been and remains the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Ghana. Despite the fact that cervical cancer is preventable through early detection and treatment of precancerous lesions, anecdotal evidence from gynaecological clinics in Ghana indicates that most patients present with a late stage of the disease. This study assesses the cervical cancer screening practices among women in Ghana.

Methods: Data from the World Health Organization's (WHO) multi-country Study on AGEing and adult health (SAGE) wave 2 conducted between 2014 and 2015 in Ghana was used. We employed binary logistic regression models to analyse data on 2711 women to examine factors associated with having pelvic examination among women aged ≥18 years. Among those who had pelvic examination, we applied binary logistic regression models to analyse factors associated with receiving Pap smear test as a subgroup analysis.

Results: Of the 2711 women aged 18 years or older surveyed, 225 (8.3%) had ever had a pelvic examination and only 66 (2.4%) of them reported ever having done a Pap smear test. For those who had pelvic examination, only 26.94% had Pap smear test. Ethnic group, marital status, father's educational level and difficulty with self-care were independently associated with undergoing pelvic examination. Only age and healthcare involvement were independently associated with pelvic examination within the past 5 years to the survey. Marital status, satisfaction with healthcare and healthcare involvement were independently associated with Pap smear test.

Conclusion: Even though cervical cancer is preventable through early detection of precancerous lesions using Pap smear test, the patronage of this screening test is still very low in Ghana. Factors influencing the low patronage in Ghana include the marital status of women, their level of satisfaction with healthcare as well as their level of involvement with healthcare. These may be the consequences of a weak health system and the lack of a national policy on cervical cancer screening.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; Ghana; Pap smear test; Screening; Sub-Saharan Africa; W.H.O. SAGE study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Abeje S, Seme A, Tibelt A. Factors associated with breast cancer screening awareness and practices of women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Womens Health. 2019;19(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s12905-018-0695-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adanu RM. Cervical cancer knowledge and screening in Accra, Ghana. J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 2002;11(6):487–488. doi: 10.1089/152460902760277822. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adanu RM, Hill AG, Seffah JD, Darko R, Anarfi JK, Duda RB. Secular trends in menarcheal age among Ghanaian women in Accra. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2006;26(6):550–554. doi: 10.1080/01443610600811425. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adanu RMK, Seffah JD, Duda R, Darko R, Hill A, Anarfi J. Clinics and cervical cancer screening in Accra. Ghana Med J. 2010;44(2):59–63. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agurto I, et al. Perceived barriers and benefits to cervical cancer screening in Latin America. Prev Med. 2004;39(1):91e98. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.03.040. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms