Women’s knowledge and attitude towards cervical cancer preventive measures and associated factors In South Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, North Central Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women in Ethiopia, often due to late disease diagnosis. Early prevention of cancer has been shown to be the most effective measure against the disease. Scientific evidences indicate that lack of awareness towards cervical cancer is a barrier to prevention strategies. Therefore, the aim of the current research was to assess women’s knowledge and attitudes towards cervical cancer preventions in South Gondar zone. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in South Gondar zone, Ethiopia. The study sample comprised 844 women ≥ 18 years of age. Participants were selected using systematic sampling technique. Binary and multivariable logistic models were used to assess predictors of women’s knowledge and attitude towards cervical cancer. RESULTS: About 66 % of the women had heard about cervical cancer. Regarding the main source of information of respondents, 75.4 % were heard from health professionals. Sixty two point 4 % of women knew at least one preventive measure and 82.6 % of participants knew at least one symptom or sign. Among study participants, 25 and 64 % had good knowledge, and favorable attitude towards cervical cancer prevention measures, respectively. Being reside in rural (AOR = 0.21, 95 %CI; 0.18, 0.34), not attending formal education (AOR = 0.50, 95 % CI: 0.3, 0.75), low income (AOR = 0.57, 95 % CI: 0.43, 0.81) and having < 4 children ((AOR = 0.8, 95 % CI: 0.60–0.86) were negatively associated with knowledge toward cervical cancer prevention measures. CONCLUSIONS: This study found the majority of the respondents had poor knowledge about cervical cancer prevention measures. The majority of the study participants had favorable attitudes regarding cervical cancer prevention. Living in rural areas, not attending formal education low income and having less than four children was negatively associated with respondents’ knowledge towards cervical cancer prevention measures. There is needed to scale up cervical cancer prevention measures and services .Further studies are needed using strong study design.