Abstract:
Background: cervical cancer remains an important health problem of women worldwide with a high morbidity
and mortality. Most cervical cancers originate from cells infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) which is
sexually transmitted. It is a preventable condition and considerable effort goes into detecting and treating the
pre-invasive disease. Papanicolaou smear(Pap smear) test for cervical cancer screening is the most utilized and
successful approach to cancer screening.
General Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the risk factors associated with abnormal pap
smears among women that present for cervical cancer screening in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH)
North-Central Nigeria.
Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study of 200 consecutive women who presented for cervical cancer
screening at the cancer screening centre of JUTH. Data were collected from the participants using a proforma
after obtaining informed consent. The results of the smears obtained were entered in this proforma for each
patient and analyzed using EPI-info 3.5.2. The strength of the association between the risk factors and
abnormal pap smear results were evaluated using logistic regression analysis and significance is defined as P<
0RESULTS: Results of this study shows that 9.5% of the study population had abnormal Pap smears and the
commonly diagnosed abnormal type is ASC-US. There was statistically significant relationship between
abnormal cytology result and age, number of sexual partners, early age at first sexual intercourse, HIV status
and combined oral contraceptive use.
CONCLUSION: The commonest abnormal Pap smear is ASCUS and more than 80% of the patients got
information on cervical cancer screening from their healthcare providers and all women irrespective of their
educational status are willing to undergo the screening when given the information.
