Knowledge about Cervical Cancer, Screening Practices and associated factors among Women Living with HIV in Public Hospitals of West Shoa Zone, Central Ethiopia

Background: In Ethiopia cervical cancer (CC) is a common and leading cause of death from cancer among women. CC is preventable and curable if identified in its early stage. Studies have shown that HIV positive women are at increased risk of cervical cancer. There is limited available evidence in Ethiopia on knowledge about CC and screening practices among women living with HIV. Objective: To assess the overall knowledge about CC, screening practices and associated factors among women living with HIV in public hospitals of West Shoa zone, Ethiopia, 2016. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2016. A simple random sampling technique was utilized to select 423 study subjects. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify associated factors. Results: Almost half 210(49.6%) of them had good overall knowledge about CC, only 9(2.1%) of them were ever screened. Those who had heard about CC from mass media (AOR=28.2,CI:14.18-56.1), heard about CC from health workers (AOR=23.3,CI:5.69-96.1), knowing patients with CC (AOR=26.23,CI: 7.53-89.9), being older (AOR=21.2,CI:3.17-141.6), higher income (AOR=6.58,CI:2.39-18.05) and perceiving as at risk of CC (AOR=10.9, CI:4.83 24.6) were factors significantly associated with having good overall knowledge. Conclusion: Overall knowledge of women living with HIV about CC was low and insignificant numbers of women were screened. Therefore establishing screening centers and providing health education on the importance of CC screening and risk perceptions for women living with HIV during their follow-up and through mass media are recommended.