Skip to main content

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1436095
This article is part of the Research Topic Global Perioperative Care in Africa View all 5 articles

Healthcare providers' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards cervical cancer screening in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Amare m. Delie Amare m. Delie 1*Eyob Ketema Eyob Ketema 2Tadele F. Anagaw Tadele F. Anagaw 2Misganaw Guadie Tiruneh Misganaw Guadie Tiruneh 3Eneyew Talie Eneyew Talie 1Destaw Endeshaw Destaw Endeshaw 4Habitu Birhan Eshetu Habitu Birhan Eshetu 2Ousman A. Tegegne Ousman A. Tegegne 5Abiyu A. Tareke Abiyu A. Tareke 6Natnael Kebede Natnael Kebede 7
  • 1 Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia
  • 2 Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral studies, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
  • 3 Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
  • 4 Department of Adult Health Nursing, School of Health Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahirdar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
  • 5 Department of Emergency and Critical Care Nursing, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
  • 6 Amref health Africa in Ethiopia, SLL project, COVID-19 vaccine/EPI technical assistant at West Gondar zonal health department, Gondar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
  • 7 Department of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Cervical cancer is a prevalent cancer among women in low and middle-income countries, but it can be largely prevented through screening programs and HPV vaccination. This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding cervical cancer screening among healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan African countries.Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Relevant databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, AJOL, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect databases were used to retrieve and search articles. The study included published and unpublished research written in English between January 2013 and May 16, 2024 for studies reporting knowledge, attitude, and practice towards cervical cancer screening among healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa. This review has been registered on PROSPERO. The heterogeneity of the data was evaluated using the I 2 statistic. A meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 17 software, with a 95% confidence interval. The researchers also conducted publication bias and sensitivity analysis.Results: The review included 30 studies involving 7542 healthcare providers. The pooled magnitude of good knowledge status towards cervical cancer was 67.93% (95% CI: 53.36-82.50) whereas the pooled magnitude of positive attitude towards cervical cancer was 55. ). The results also showed that about 49.68% (95% CI: 33.18-66.17) of healthcare providers had good knowledge status about cervical cancer screening, 66.63%(95% CI: 50.36-82.89) had a positive attitude towards it, and only 17.23% (95% CI; 6.08-28.37) had ever screened for cervical cancer.The overall magnitude of knowledge and attitude of healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa towards cervical cancer and its screening was suboptimal. Furthermore, a low percentage of female healthcare providers in the region had undergone screening for cervical cancer. As a result, policymakers and program administrators should focus on improving the knowledge, attitude, and practices of healthcare providers to meet the global health goal of cervical cancer screening and effectively eliminating cervical cancer.Healthcare providers must serve as role models for other women who should also undergo screening.

    Keywords: cervical cancer screening, Healthcare provider, knowledge, Attitude, Practice, sub-Saharan Africa

    Received: 21 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Delie, Ketema, Anagaw, Tiruneh, Talie, Endeshaw, Eshetu, Tegegne, Tareke and Kebede. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Amare m. Delie, Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.