Client perception of the quality of cervical cancer screening services at a centre in South-South Nigeria.

Zakaa Zawua1*, Nkencho Osegi1, Stephen Musa2, Peter Waripamo Oweisi1, Daniel Ugochukwu Obodo1
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
2Department of Pathology, Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
*Correspondence: Dr. Zakaa Zawua; +234 806 806 4981; zakzawua@gmail.com

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Abstract

Background: The burden of cervical cancer unevenly rests on the developing world. It is estimated that about 80% of the nearly 500,000 incident cases and 273,000 deaths occur in developing countries.
Approximately 5% of these deaths occur in Nigeria. This bleak picture is further worsened by the lack of population-wide screening services for premalignant lesions of the cervix, cost implications in a vastly uninsured population and the concurrent HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Patients’ perception of the quality of cervical cancer screening could be the link to the poor utilisation of these services in Nigeria and possibly the developing world.
Objective: The study objective was to critically evaluate patients’ perception of the quality of cervical cancer screening services and compare their perception to their socio-demographic characteristics.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Clients who had Pap smear test between 2013 and 2018 were offered a phone-based semi structured questionnaire evaluating their economic and demographic characteristics, and perception of the quality of the test.
Results: Of the 149 respondents 79.9% were married, 67.8% had a high socioeconomic status and 55.7% sought cervical screening as routine check-up. About 16% of respondents reported both ‘good’ and ‘very poor’ levels of satisfaction. 71.8%, 61.7% and 41.6% of respondents declared good level of satisfaction with doctors’, nurses’ and laboratory staff’s attitude respectively. The odds of experiencing good satisfaction were increased among married respondents (OR = 2.30; 95% CI: 1.01 – 5.21; p -.046), in high SES (OR – 2.97; 95% CI:1.36 – 6.47; p – .006) and those seeking cervical screening on routine check (OR – 2.59; 95% CI:1.21 – 5.56; p – 0.015) or on doctor’s request (OR – 3.95; 95% CI:1.34 – 11.60; p – 0.013).
Conclusions: Poor uptake of cervical cancer screening is still a public health issue in most of the developing world. In this study, our model has shown that the perception of the quality of cervical cancer screening services amongst first time clients need some improvement. We therefore recommend an improvement in the attitude of health care workers and a better overall explanation of screening processes.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Developing world, Premalignant lesions, Screening.

Cite this article: Zauwa Z, Osegi N, Musa S, Oweisi PW, Obodo DU. Client perception of the quality of cervical cancer screening services at a centre in South-South Nigeria. Yen Med J. 2020;2(1):50-57.

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