Risk Factors in Women with Abnormal Pap Smears in a Tertiary Health Institution in North-Central Nigeria

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.