RESUMO
Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women globally including Tanzania. However, timely access to diagnosis remains a challenge due to lack of specialized facilities. Most patients presents with advanced stages of the disease making management impossible. This leads to an increase in breast cancer-related mortality. Little is known about knowledge and practices on breast cancer screening in Tanzania. This study described knowledge and practices on breast-cancer detection and associated challenges among women aged 35 years and above in Morogoro rural District in Tanzania. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Lubungo, Newland and Fulwe villages at Mikese ward in Morogoro rural District from June and July 2017. A standardized questionnaire was used to obtain information from 130 study participants regarding breast cancer knowledge and practices. Data were analyzed using (SPSS) software version 23 and descriptive statistics were summarized in frequencies and percentages. Results: One hundred and thirty women were studied, all participants have heard of breast cancer; 71.5% knew the effects of breast cancer; 37.7% knew about the signs and symptoms. The most frequently reported cause and risk factor of breast cancer were putting money under brassiere (30.8%) and fat diet (17.7%) respectively. The participants (73.8%) have never heard of breast self-examination (BSE) as an early detection method of breast cancer hence do not practice it. Lack of knowledge on early signs and symptoms of breast cancer was reported as the main challenge for breast cancer screening (73.8%). The frequently reported source of information about this disease was television/radio programs (83.1%). Conclusion: Most of the women have heard of breast cancer but they lack adequate knowledge on its risk factors, causes, symptoms and effects. The majority of the women do not practice BSE due to lack of knowledge. Efforts to improve women's knowledge on breast cancer is warranted.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a global leading cause of morbidity and mortality, attributable to the death of approximately 266,000 women every year. Majority (87%) of cervical cancer deaths occur in developing countries including Tanzania. Though knowledge of cervical cancer is an important determinant of women's participation in prevention and screening for cervical cancer, little is known about this topic in Tanzania. This study aimed to determine the knowledge of cervical cancer prevention services and screening practices among women who attended Reproductive Child Health clinic at a district hospital in Lake Zone, Tanzania. This information is important to help designing appropriate interventions and scaling up cervical cancer control programs, hence accelerate the achievement towards Sustainable Development Goals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2017, involving 307 women attending reproductive and child health clinic at Magu district hospital. A questionnaire adopted from the validated Cervical Cancer Awareness Measure was used to collect data from the study participants. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics were summarized using frequencies and percentages for categorical variables while mean and standard deviation was used for continuous variables. Multivariable logistic regressions model was used to estimate Adjusted Odds ratio with 95% CI for factors associated with knowledge. RESULTS: Knowledge of cervical cancer was low, where 82.7% of the women scored less than 50%. Majority (82.4%) were aware about cervical cancer. Secondary education or higher (OR = 7.77, 95% CI: 1.70-35.48) and "knowing someone who has ever had cervical cancer" (OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.16-4.13) were significantly associated with higher knowledge. Only 14.3% of participants practiced cervical cancer screening. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of women lack comprehensive knowledge of cervical cancer and only few utilize screening services. Strategies for awareness creation about cervical cancer may help to improve knowledge and utilization of cancer screening practices.
