Uptake of cervical cancer screening and its predictors among women of reproductive age in Gomma district, South West Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a public health challenge despite the available free screening service in Ethiopia. Early screening for cervical cancer significantly improves the chances of successful treatment of pre-cancers and cancers among women of reproductive age. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the uptake of screening and identify the factors among women of reproductive age. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gomma Woreda, Jimma Zone, Ethiopia, from 1st to the 30th of August, 2019. The total sample size was 422. A systematic random sampling technique was employed. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, entered in epidata, and exported and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 software packages. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses with 95% CI for odds ratio (OR) were performed to declare a significant predictors. RESULT: A total of 382 study participants were involved with a response rate of 90.5%. The mean age of the study participants was 26.45 ± 4.76 SD. One hundred forty-eight (38.7%) of participants had been screened for CC. Marital status (AOR = 10.74, 95%, CI = 5.02-22.96), residence (AOR = 4.45, 95%, CI = 2.85-6.96), educational status (AOR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.12-3.49), government employee (AOR = 2.61, 95%, CI = 1.33-5.15), birth experience (AOR = 8.92, 95% CI = 4.28-19.19), giving birth at health center and government hospitals (AOR = 10.31, 95% CI = 4.99-21.62; AOR = 5.54, 95% CI = 2.25-13.61); distance from health facility (AOR = 4.41, 95% CI = 2.53-9.41), health workers encouragement (AOR = 3.23, 95% CI = 1.57-6.63), awareness on cervical cancer (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.19-0.72), awareness about CC screening (AOR = 4.52, 95%, CI = 2.71-7.55) and number of health facility visit per year (AOR = 3.63, 95%, CI = 1.86-6.93) were the predictors for the uptake of cervical cancer screening. CONCLUSION: The uptake of cervical cancer screening was low. Marital status, residence, occupation, perceived distance from screening health facility, health workers encouragement, number of health facility visits, birth experience, place of birth, and knowledge about cervical cancer screening were the predictors. There is a need to conduct further studies on continuous social and behavioral change communication.