ABSTRACT
Background: Early screening for cervical cancer is a key intervention in reduction of maternal deaths. Health care workers have a significant role to improve cervical cancer screening practice among women. Their attitude and practice to such an issue might positively or negatively influence people they come into contact with. Objective: To determine the knowledge, uptake and barriers to Pap smear test among female workers in the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital.Methodology:A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted between September and November 2015. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 265 female hospital workers on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of Pap smear, attitude towards, as well as utilization of Pap smear test. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.Results:Of the 265 respondents, 237 (89.4%) were aware of Pap smear while 28 (10.6%) had no knowledge; of those that had knowledge only 40 (16.9%) had Pap smear test done at least once previously. There is significant difference in the knowledge of Pap smear among the professionals and those with tertiary education. Common sources of information about Pap smear were Books (58.2%) and Medical Workers (50.6%). Most common reason for not wanting to be screened was No interest (43.6%).Conclusion: Although the knowledge of Pap smear is high, the uptake is low among hospital workers. To improve utilization, public health education on the need for health workers to take up screening is crucial as it will impact positively on the general populace
ABSTRACT
Background:Effective contraception can prevent unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and ensure adequate birth spacing. The choice of a method depends on consideration of its advantages and disadvantages based on individual perception and interpretations.Objective:To assess contraceptive choices and acceptability among new clients at the family planning clinic of a tertiary health facility in Rivers State, Nigeria.Methodology: This was a one-year retrospective review of clinical records of new clients attending the Family Planning Unit of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital from January 1, to December 31, 2018. Data on age, education, marital status, parity, contraceptive choice and reason for contraception were retrieved and analyzed using Epi-Info version 7.1.4.Results:A total of 124 female clients were enrolled during the time period. The mean age of the participants was 33.8±5.1 years and the median parity was 3. The most common method of contraception accepted by the clients was implants 87 (70.2%), followed by intrauterine device 32 (25.8%), then injectable 4 (3.2%) and oral contraceptive pills 1(0.8%). Reasons proffered for use of contraceptive was mainly completed family size 69 (55.6%), pregnancy prevention 53 (42.8%) and child spacing 2 (1.6%). There was no significant difference on comparism of mean age and median parity of clients by choice of contraceptive method.Conclusion: The implant methods were the most commonly accepted, while theoral contraceptive pill was the least preferred. Completed family size was the most common reason for contraception