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. 2025 Jul 4;25(1):2385.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23593-4.

Determinants of cervical cancer screening uptake in Lesotho: evidence from 2024 Demographic and Health Survey data

Mulugeta Wassie  1 , Alebachew Ferede Zegeye  2 , Gebreeyesus Abera Zeleke  3 , Enyew Getaneh Mekonen  3 , Deresse Abebe Gebrehana  4 , Tadesse Tarik Tamir  5 , Berhan Tekeba  5
Affiliations

Determinants of cervical cancer screening uptake in Lesotho: evidence from 2024 Demographic and Health Survey data

Mulugeta Wassie et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Cervical cancer affects approximately 13.1 women per 100,000 globally, with its incidence rates varying significantly across regions. Low- and middle-income countries bear the highest burden, partly due to inadequate access to preventive measures, such as regular screening and timely treatment. This study aims to identify the determinants of cervical cancer screening uptake among women of reproductive age in Lesotho, using data from the most recent Demographic and Health Survey.

Methods: A total of 3,250 women were included in this study, utilizing data from the 2024 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey. The analysis was conducted using STATA version 17.0. A multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression model was employed to identify potential factors associated with the outcome variable. Variables with p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Result: The practice of cervical cancer screening was found to be 38.90% [95% CI: 37.20-40.60]. The odds of cervical cancer screening uptake were significantly higher among women aged 20-49 years compared to those aged 15-19 years. Women with primary and secondary education levels were approximately 5.8 times more likely to undergo screening [AOR = 5.779, 95% CI: 1.1-30.0 and AOR = 5.79, 95% CI: 1.0-30.6], respectively, than women with no formal education. At the community level, women with high media exposure were 1.6 times more likely to be screened [AOR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.05-2.33] compared to those with low media exposure.

Conclusion: Cervical cancer screening rates were found to be low in this study. To encourage screening behavior, raising awareness through accessible media platforms and providing education to women could be effective. Additionally, older age was identified as a factor positively associated with screening uptake. The government should prioritize cervical cancer prevention and screening, as it remains the most cost-effective method for preventing cervical cancer.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; Demography and health survey; Lesotho; Screening uptake.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: After the consent letter was submitted to the DHS Programmers/ICF to download the dataset for this investigation, the International Review Board of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program data archivists waived informed consent. The datasets came from a publicly accessible source, and therefore it is not an experimental study. All the methods were conducted according to the Helsinki Declarations. More details regarding DHS data and ethical standards are available online at ( http://www.dhsprogram.com ). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Diagrammatic representation of the sampling procedure
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cervical cancer screening uptake in Lesotho using the 2024 standard DHS dataset
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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