Cervical cancer knowledge, awareness and related health behaviours amongst women of reproductive age in Kiambu County, Kenya: a cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics characteristics (n = 472).

Demographic characteristic	Mean (±SD); n (%)
Age	31 years (±8.9 years)
	Below 25 years – 132 (27.97%)
	25 years and above – 340 (72.03%)
Religion	Protestant – 326 (69.07%)
	Catholic – 132 (27.97%)
	Muslim – 1 (0.21%)
	Other – 13 (2.75%)
Occupation	Unemployed – 203 (43.01%)
	Self-employed – 168 (35.59%)
	Employed – 45 (9.53%)
	Casual – 56 (11.86%)
Level of education	No formal education – 14 (2.97%)
	Primary – 176 (37.29%)
	Secondary – 192 (40.68%)
	Tertiary – 90 (19.07%)
Marital status	Single (never married) – 151 (31.99%)
	Married – 273 (57.84%)
	Separated – 39 (8.26%)
	Widowed – 5 (1.06%)
	Divorced – 4 (0.85%)
Sexual partner	No – 110 (23.30%)
	Yes – 311 (65.89%)
	No response – 51 (10.80%)
Ever had a family member diagnosed with cervical cancer	Yes – 46 (10%)
Ever had a friend diagnosed with cervical cancer	Yes – 88 (18.64%)
Source of payment for health services	Employer health expenditure – 4 (0.85%)
	Private health expenditure – 6 (1.27%)
	Out of pocket (self or family member) – 341 (72.25%)
	NHIF – 121 (28.34%)

Table 2. Summary of participant knowledge of cervical cancer-related factors (n = 472).

Knowledge characteristics	n (%)
You are more likely to get cervical cancer if your family member has it	127 (26.91%)
If a woman has an abnormal cervical cancer screening result, she will definitely have cervical cancer	154 (32.63%)
HPV infection increases the risk/probability of developing cervical cancer	191 (40.47%)
Early initiation of sexual intercourse increases the risk of getting cervical cancer	250 (52.97%)
Having multiple sexual partners increases the risk of getting cervical cancer	296 (62.71%)
Having a sexual partner with multiple sexual partners increases the risk of getting cervical cancer?	285 (60.38%)
Co-infection with other sexually transmitted infections increases the risk of getting cervical cancer	264 (55.93%)
Having many children/multiparity increases the risk of getting cervical cancer	79 (16.74%)
Immunosuppression due to HIV/AIDS infection increases the risk of getting cervical cancer	23 (70.21%)
Tobacco use increases the risk of getting cervical cancer	252 (53.39%)

Table 3. Summary of participant attitude towards cervical cancer-related factors (n = 472).

Attitude characteristics	n (%)
Cervical cancer is a deadly disease	429 (90.89%)
Cervical cancer can be prevented	421 (89.39%)
Any woman who has ever had sexual intercourse should be screened for cervical cancer	418 (88.55%)
Screening helps in prevention of cervical cancer	397 (84.11%)
Screening for cervical cancer is expensive	303 (64.20%)
Cervical cancer screening can be a painful test	316 (66.94%)
Cervical cancer screening is embarrassing	306 (64.83%)
Cervical cancer screening takes a lot of time	235 (49.79%)

Table 4. Summary of participant health behaviours.

Health behaviours	n (%)
Cervical cancer screening (n = 340)	No – 271 (79.71%)
	Yes – 69 (20.29%)
Condom use (n = 472)	Never – 214 (%)
	Sometimes – 85 (%)
	Always – 24 (%)
	No response – 149 (%)
Treatment for reproductive tract infections occurring in the last 5 years (n = 126)	No – 9 (7.14%)
	Yes – 112 (88.89%)
	No response – 5 (3.97%)
Intent to test for HPV (n = 472)	Definitely yes – 182 (38.56%)
	Maybe – 214 (45.34%)
	No – 76 (16.10%)

Table 5. Multivariable analysis assessing the relationship between study participant characteristics and screening behaviour (n = 340).

Variables	Crude OR (95% CI)	p Value	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	p Value
Age	1.09 (1.06–1.12)	.000	1.05 (1.01–1.10)	.017*
Occupation
Unemployed	1		1
Employed	1.87 (0.77–4.55)	.166	1.49 (0.48–4.63)	.495
Self-employed	2.53 (1.42–4.52)	.002	1.28 (0.58–2.85)	.542
Casual	1.44 (0.60–3.46)	.410	1.06 (0.36–3.13)	.911
Marital status – n (%)
Single (never married)	1		1
Married	1.93 (1.02–3.65)	.043	0.67 (0.30–1.50)	.328
Separated/divorced/widowed	4.89 (2.17–11.04)	.000	1.76 (0.58–5.31)	.316
Ever heard of cervical cancer	6.76 (1.62–28.25)	.009	0.53 (0.07–3.87)	.534
Ever heard of cervical cancer screening	26.24 (3.60–191.48)	.001	9.33 (1.05–82.82)	.045*
Know a place for cervical cancer screening	12.65 (3.90–41.05)	.000	3.94 (1.08–14.37)	.038*
Ever heard of HPV	4.25 (2.45–7.36)	.000	0.63 (0.18–2.15)	.457
Ever heard of HPV testing	4.86 (2.90–8.14)	.000	2.49 (1.03–6.0)	.043*
Ever heard of HPV vaccination	5.40 (3.11–9.38)	.000	2.88 (1.24–6.70)	.014*
Knowledge of cervical cancer-related factors	1.33 (1.20–1.47)	.000	1.21 (1.05–1.40)	.010*
Knowledge of HPV-related factors	1.18 (1.12–1.25)	.000	0.93 (0.82–1.06)	.292
Attitude towards cervical cancer-related factors	1.81 (1.50–2.18)	.000	1.54 (1.23–1.94)	.000*