Baseline knowledge on risk factors, symptoms and intended behavior of women and men towards screening and treatment of cervical cancer in rural Uganda - a cross-sectional study

Q: What was the study’s main objective?

To assess baseline knowledge and intended behavior of both women and men so targeted messages could be designed to increase cervical cancer screening uptake and support early detection among women with symptoms.

Q: How was the study conducted and who participated?

A cross-sectional study in two districts in Western Uganda used a modified AWACAN questionnaire. Women aged 30–49 and their husbands/decision makers were interviewed to assess knowledge, intended behavior, and barriers related to screening and treatment.

Q: What were the key findings about knowledge and screening uptake?

Most participants had high and similar knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms. Despite positive intended behavior, screening uptake was very low, with only a small proportion reporting ever being screened.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Ava Thompson

Baseline knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms can improve uptake of screening, yet many interventions target women with limited involvement of men, who often influence decisions in low- and middle-income settings. This cross-sectional study assessed baseline knowledge and intended behavior of women and men to support design of targeted messages. Using a modified AWACAN questionnaire in Western Uganda, interviews examined knowledge, intended actions, and barriers, with descriptive and logistic regression analyses comparing women and men.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keywords

Background

Nakisige etal. BMC Cancer (2024) 24:450 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12223-8](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12223-8) BMC Cancer RESEARCH Open Access Baseline knowledge on risk factors, symptoms and intended behavior of women and men towards screening and treatment of cervical cancer in rural Uganda: a cross-sectional study Carolyn Nakisige 1*, Marlieke de Fouw2, Miriam Nakalembe3, Jackson Orem1, Dan Atukonyera4, Mwalimu Musheshe4, Jaap Koot5, Janine de Zeeuw5, Jogchum Beltman2 and Jelle Stekelenburg5,6 Abstract Background Knowledge of risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer has been found to promote uptake of screening of cervical cancer. Most interventions targeted women without much involvement of men (husbands/ decision makers) who are often decision makers in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed at assessing baseline knowledge and intended behavior of both women and men to enable design specific targeted messages to increase uptake of cervical cancer screening and promote early detection of women with symptoms. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in two districts in Western Uganda using the modified African Women Awareness of CANcer (AWACAN) questionnaire. Women aged 30—49 years and their husbands/decision makers were interviewed. Knowledge on risk factors and symptoms, intended behavior and barriers towards participation in cervical cancer screening and treatment were assessed. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were done to establish the association between knowledge levels and other factors comparing women to men. Results A total of 724 women and 692 men were enrolled. Of these, 71. 0% women and 67. 2% men had ever heard of cervical cancer and 8. 8% women had ever been screened. Knowledge of risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer was high and similar for both women and men. Lack of decision making by women was associated with low knowledge of risk factors (X2 = 14 . 542; p = 0 . 01), low education (X2 = 36 . 05, p < 0. 01) and older age (X2 = 17 . 33, p < 0. 01) . Men had better help seeking behavior than women (X2 = 64 . 96, p < 0. 01, OR = 0 . 39, 95% CI: 0 .31—0. 50) and were more confident and skilled in recognising a sign or symptom of cervical cancer (X2 = 27 . 28, p < 0. 01, OR = 0 . 52, CI (0 .40—0. 67) . Conclusion The baseline knowledge for cervical cancer was high in majority of participants and similar in both women and men. Their intended behavior towards screening was also positive but screening uptake was very low. This study suggests developing messages on multiple interventions to promote screening behavior in addition *Correspondence: Carolyn Nakisige [carolyn.nakisige@uci.or.ug](carolyn.nakisige@uci.or.ug) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ()[. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ()[http://creativecom

FAQs

What was the study’s main objective?

To assess baseline knowledge and intended behavior of both women and men so targeted messages could be designed to increase cervical cancer screening uptake and support early detection among women with symptoms.

How was the study conducted and who participated?

A cross-sectional study in two districts in Western Uganda used a modified AWACAN questionnaire. Women aged 30–49 and their husbands/decision makers were interviewed to assess knowledge, intended behavior, and barriers related to screening and treatment.

What were the key findings about knowledge and screening uptake?

Most participants had high and similar knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms. Despite positive intended behavior, screening uptake was very low, with only a small proportion reporting ever being screened.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Ava Thompson