ABSTRACT
Background: Cervical cancer encompasses a wide variety of conditions, from dysplasia to aggressive carcinoma. Distant metastasis affecting adjacent tissues and deposits in organs such as the liver, lungs, and bones occur in the late stages of the disease. Because poor public health awareness has contributed to late diagnosis of this disease, it is necessary to review cervical cancer screening knowledge, attitude, and behavior. In many parts of Nigeria, market women remain the economic backbone of families. As a result of increased awareness, the disease’s burden will be reduced.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted utilizing systematic sampling to collect data from 253 market women in Yola metropolitan via questionnaires.
The majority of the market women (74.0%) had heard of cervical cancer, and 74.9 percent had heard about screening. There was also a positive attitude, although the practice was inadequate. Cervical cancer screening was more common among women with formal education than among women without formal education, although the difference was not statistically significant (x2 = 4.248, P = 0.120). Only 72 women have had their cervical cancer checked.
Conclusion: The study found that while knowledge of cervical cancer screening is high, practice is poor, with only 28.5 percent of respondents having ever had cervical cancer screening. As a result, increased public health awareness should be encouraged to enhance the use of screening services in all health facilities.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Cervical cancer encompasses a wide range of conditions, from dysplasia to aggressive malignancy. Dysplasia is a term used to denote aberrant cell arrangement, or premalignant alterations in the squamous epithelium. There are three levels of severity: mild, moderate, and severe. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is a closely similar nomenclature that includes the complete spectrum of alterations. Changes are graded CIN 1, CIN 2, and CIN 3 depending on which third of the epithelium (Upper, Middle, Lower) they occur in; mild, moderate, and severe1.
Deeper tissue invasion is a hallmark of invasive cancer. Fungating (the most prevalent), ulcerating, and infiltrating are the three most common types. 95 percent of cells are big cell type, either keratinized (highly differentiated) or non keratinized, according to histology (moderately differentiated).
Endocervical adenocarcinoma can appear anywhere on the os, from the internal to the exterior. Local spread can occur either upward to involve the entire cervix, downward to extend into the vaginal vault, laterally to involve the ureters and anteriorly to involve the bladder, and posteriolly to involve the rectum in the late stages of the illness. Early lymphytic spread occurs, whereas haematogenous dissemination proceeds via systemic circulation, primarily affecting the liver, lungs, and bones1.
Cervical Cancer Pathogenesis
Cervical cancer develops in the uterine cervix’s “transformation zone.” At the start of adolescence, this area undergoes physiological metaplasia from glandular to squamous epithelium. After the commencement of sexual activity, the Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) is highly frequent, and when it persists, the viral oncoprotein disrupts cell-cycle controls.