Journal of Community & Public Health Nursing
Open Access

Research Article

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Cervical Cancer Screening among Somali Women in an Urban Settlement in Kenya

¹School of Nursing Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 19676-00202 Nairobi, Kenya

²College of Health Sciences, School of Nursing Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 19676-00202 Nairobi, Kenya

³Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, Mount Kenya University, P.O. Box 5826, Kigali Campus, Rwanda

*Corresponding Author:

Michael Habtu
MPH, Department of Public Health
School of Health Sciences, Mount Kenya University
P.O. Box 5826, Kigali Campus, Rwanda
Tel: 250784460645
E-mail: mikel.habtu@gmail.com

Received date: January 03, 2017; Accepted date: February 10, 2017; Published date: February 17, 2017

Citation: Abdikarim IK, Atieno WMC, Habtu M (2017) Prevalence and Associated Factors of Cervical Cancer Screening among Somali Women in an Urban Settlement in Kenya. J Comm Pub Health Nursing 3:159. doi:10.4172/2471-9846.1000159

Copyright: © 2017 Abdikarim IK, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: In Kenya, cervical cancer is ranked as the most frequent cancer among women with about 4,802 new cases being diagnosed and approximately 2,451 lives lost to it. Screening by Pap smear facilitates early detection, prompt treatment and consequently reduces mortality from cervical cancer. Though cervical screening services exist in Kenya, there is still high mortality rate due to cervical cancer.

Objective: To determine prevalence and associated factors of cervical cancer screening among Somali women in Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 104 women selected by multi-stage sampling approach. The data was collected using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square test (p<0.05) and odds ratio with corresponding 95% confidence interval were used to determine the association between screening and independent variables. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine predictors of cervical cancer screening.

Conclusion: Based on our findings special emphasis should be directed at increasing awareness and perception about cervical screening as well as susceptibility of cervical cancer at all primary health care points through a welldesigned health education programme.

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