Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening among Women of Child-Bearing Age in Thyolo District, Malawi

Rosie Litta Panulo – Preventive Health Department, Malamulo Adventist Hospital, Makwasa, Malawi.
Victor P. Nkungula – Basic Sciences Department, Malawi Adventist University, Malamulo College of Health Sciences, Makwasa, Malawi
Kingsley Lungu – Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Chichiri, Blantyre, Malawi.
Email: panulorosie@yahoo.com

Abstract: Cervical cancer is a major global health issue and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Few women have undergone screening in Malawi. Reasons for low uptake of free screening services in rural Thyolo have not been investigated thoroughly. As such, a cross-sectional study was carried out to examine barriers to cervical cancer screening. The questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to collect data. A total of 421 women of child-bearing age were recruited for the survey and 24 women participated in three focus group discussions. SPSS version 22 was used to analyze data using Chi-square statistical test and qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The study established that respondents had low level of knowledge of cervical cancer and screening. Though respondents had positive perceptions, the rate of cervical cancer screening was low (38%). From the quantitative analysis, the study established that some of the barriers to screening were ‘fear’ (emotions) (50.3%), laziness (23.4%) and perceived painful procedures (11.4%). The main themes arising from qualitative analysis were fear, painful feeling and embarrassment. Furthermore, the socio-demographic factors, level of knowledge on screening procedure and psychological factors associated with the screening, showed to hinder the uptake of cervical cancer screening. Community Health Nurses and Health Surveillance Assistants have a great task of sensitizing the rural masses on the importance of cervical cancer screening and encouraging them to get screened.