Utilization of Cervical Carcinoma Screening Service and Associated Factors among Currently Married Women in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Cervical cancer is major public health problem worldwide which worsened in the developing world including Sub-Saharan Africa. Cervical cancer screening has been consistently shown to be effective in reducing the incidence rate and mortality from cervical cancer. But very few of eligible women undergo cervical cancer screening. The aim of this study was assess the level of utilization of screening service for cervical cancer among currently married women in Arba Minch Town. Methods: A community based cross sectional study design was conducted among randomly selected 660 currently married women from February to March, 2015 by using interviewer administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Version 21. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the status of study population and multi-variable logistic regression was used to see predictors of screening service utilization. Result: The study indicated that only 38 (5.9%) of the respondents get screened. The most common reason for not utilizing the service was being healthy (60.02%). Age of mother greater than 30 years, perceived severity to cervical cancer, parity of more than 5 children and average monthly income of greater than 1170 ETB were significantly associated with cervical cancer screening service utilization. Conclusion: Only few of the respondents get screened. Therefore, there is a need for creating awareness and intensifying health education provision on cervical cancer screening in the town and need to influence perceptions by targeting the women.