Factors related to knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding cervical cancer among Yemeni women

Sep 22, 2026

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Cervical cancer remains highly prevalent and deadly, particularly where preventive strategies are limited. A cross-sectional study assessed knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding cervical cancer among 399 Yemeni women in five major hospitals in Sana’a in 2019. Face-to-face interviews used structured questionnaires, and logistic regression examined links between outcomes and age, education, employment outside the home, and family history. Awareness of cervical cancer was low, and higher education, outside-home work, and family history increased knowledge, including Pap smear test awareness and prior use.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Ali et al. BMC Cancer (2024) 24:695 BMC Cancer [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12435-y](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12435-y) RESEARCH Open Access Factors related to knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding cervical cancer among Yemeni women Boshra Ali 1,2*, Andrzej Galbarczyk2,4, Grazyna Jasienska2, Maryam Ba-Break3 and Hülya Gül5 Abstract Background Cervical cancer (CxCa), although preventable, is still among the most prevalent cancers in women. Mortality from this cancer is high, especially in low-income countries where preventive strategies are often lacking. We studied the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding CxCa among Yemeni women. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 among 399 women in five major hospitals in Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires. We used logistic regression models to analyze the likelihood of hearing about CxCa, believing that CxCa is treatable and preventable, awareness of the Pap smear test, and ever having this test, in relation to participant’s age, education level, working outside the household, and family history of CxCa. Results Only 66. 7% of the women had heard of CxCa. Women with higher education, working outside the household, and with a family history of CxCa were more likely to be aware of CxCa. Working outside the household was the only variable related to a higher likelihood of knowing that CxCa is a treatable and preventable. Furthermore, women with a family history of CxCa were more likely to have knowledge about Pap smear test and were more likely to have Pap smear test in the past. Conclusion This study identified a low awareness of CxCa and its prevention among Yemeni women. In order to reduce the burden of CxCa in Yemen and save women’s lives, it is necessary to raise women’s awareness of this disease, especially among those with lower education and those not involved in work outside their homes. Keywords Cervical cancer, Pap smear test, Education, Market integration, Yemen, Cancer prevention, Health literacy *Correspondence: Boshra Ali [boshra.sasaah@gmail.com](boshra.sasaah@gmail.com) 1Public Health Department, Institute of Graduate Studies in Health Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 2Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 3Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK 4Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany 5Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Public Health Department, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye © 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/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ([http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to t

FAQs

How was cervical cancer knowledge and behavior assessed in the study?

The study used face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires among 399 Yemeni women in five major hospitals in Sana’a in 2019.

What factors were most associated with awareness of cervical cancer?

Higher education, working outside the household, and having a family history of cervical cancer were more likely to be associated with awareness.

What did the study conclude about prevention in Yemen?

The study found low awareness of cervical cancer and its prevention, suggesting the need for awareness-raising especially among women with lower education and those not involved in work outside their homes.

Sep 22, 2026

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