Knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening and its associated factors among women attending maternal health services at public health institutions in Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer among all women in Ethiopia and the second most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age, resulting in over 4884 moralities annually. Although there is a focus on health promotion through teaching and screening in Ethiopia’s intended transition toward universal healthcare, there is little information available on baseline levels of knowledge and screening uptake related to cervical cancer. OBJECTIVES: This study explored the levels of knowledge and screening rates of cervical cancer along with its associated factors among women of reproductive age in Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia in 2022. METHODOLOGY: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A systematic sampling technique was used to select 213 reproductive-age women from selected health institutions, from 20 April 2022 to 20 July 2022. A validated and pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. Multi-logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors independently associated with cervical cancer screening. Adjusted OR with 95% CI was estimated to measure the strength of association. The level of statistical significance was declared at a p value of <0.05. The results were presented in tables and figures. RESULT: Knowledge of cervical cancer screening in this study was 53.5%, and 36% of respondents had practised cervical cancer screening. Family history of cervical cancer (AOR)=2.5, 95% CI (1.04 to 6.44)), place of residence (AOR=3.68, 95% CI (2.23, 6.54)) and availability of health services at nearby (AOR=2.03, 95% CI (1.134, 3.643)) were significantly associated with knowledge of cervical cancer screening, while educational status (AOR=2.811, 95% CI (1.038 to 7.610)), knowing someone diagnosed with cervical cancer (AOR=8.3, 95% CI (2.4, 28.69)), Knowledge of cervical cancer(AOR=2.17, 95%CI(1.077, 4.384) and feeling feeling at risk (AOR=3.26 95% CI (1.52, 5.04)) were associated with the practice of cervical cancer screening. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening in this study were low. Therefore, the reproductive women must be encouraged to have early cervical cancer screening at precancerous stage by informing their susceptibility to cervical cancer.