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  • Most women were found to

    2019-05-28

    Most women were found to be unaware of possible prevention of the disease, including screening services for early detection and treatment of precancerous lesions. Some women affected by CC tend to initially seek treatment from traditional healers and use holy water. Beliefs concerning the cause of the disease are a crucial determinant of subsequent healthcare-seeking behavior. Factors that predict underutilization of cervical cancer screening include older age, lower educational attainment, lower socio-economic status, single marital status, rural residence and negative health and lifestyle characteristics such as infrequent physical activity and not having a regular family doctor. Pap smear screening among women has been found to be limited by a lack of knowledge about Pap smears and their importance, feelings of embarrassment and a lack of continuity of care due to a high turnover of health professionals. Traditional churches in Zimbabwe discourage women from seeking medical attention as they 17-DMAG urge them to have faith and receive their healing from God. However, the prevalence of cervical cancer among women attending traditional churches in Zimbabwe has not been established. The traditional churches (Apostolic Churches) that were the focus of this study have an indigenous origin, with their founders being local Zimbabwean people. Correspondingly, they have practices that are quite similar to traditional cultural practices. Most of these churches do not allow members to seek medical care. These Apostolic churches emphasize faith healing and strict adherence to church beliefs and practices, which undermine the benefits of modern health care. For these women, seeking medical care may result in sanctions like confession, shaming, or a prohibition from wearing church regalia or undergoing rebaptism. These churches believe that illness is caused by evil spirits, and that healing is conducted by prophets and other spiritual leaders.
    Methods
    Results As shown in Table 1 above, the study participants were between 18 and 58 years of age, with the mean age group 17-DMAG being 38 years. The ages of the participants were distributed as follows – The majority of the participants (49) were in the age range 30–39, with 42 participants in the age group 18–29 and 34 participants in the 40–45 years category. Most of the participants were from the Shona ethnic group (58.4%). In terms of academic qualifications, 80 women had secondary education (form 1–4), 22 had attained primary level grade (1–7), and 11 had tertiary qualification (post secondary qualification - certificate, diploma, etc). Twenty-two women were not married, 17 were separated, 13 widowed and 6 divorced. Table 2 above shows that there was variation in knowledge among these women. The majority (62%) of individuals of ages 18–29 and 38 (52%) of Shona tribe women had above average knowledge regarding the nature of a Pap smear test. However, 42 (54%) women with a secondary level qualification were not aware of the Pap smear test, accompanied by 36 (54%) married women in the study. Women of ages 18–29 (79%), 30–39 (66%), 40–58 (74%), Shona (74%), Ndebele (69%), other tribes (60%), tertiary (27%), 82% with primary level education, 66% with secondary level education and 91% with other qualification presented with a poor understanding of cervical cancer. Most of the women presented average to above average knowledge on recommended periodic screening for cervical cancer. The majority of women in Nonpermissive conditions study did not know the age at which the likelihood of developing cervical cancer increases, which included 29 (69%) women in the 18–29 group, 40 (84%) of ages 30–39, 30 (88%) in the 40–58 group, 59 (81%) of Shona, 32 (76%) of Ndebele, 9 (90%) of other minority tribes, 12 (100%) with a tertiary education, 19 (86%) with a primary education, 58 (72%) with secondary education, 11 (100%) with other academic qualification, 52 (78%) married, 15 (68%) not married, amongst the widowed 13 (100%), and 16 (94%) and 4 (67%) in the separated and divorced, respectively. However knowledge about factors that caused cervical cancer was relatively high; the majority (79%, 88% and 74%) of women of ages 18–29, 30–39 and 40–58, respectively, knew what caused cervical cancer. Such figures were identified with 59 (81%) of the Shona, 33 (79%) Ndebele, and 9 (90%) from other minority clans, 8 (67%) with tertiary qualification, 20 (91%) with primary level education, a significant 66 (83%) with secondary education, 7 (64%) with other academic qualifications, 52 (78%) married, 18 (82%) unmarried, 10 (77%) widowed, 15 (88%) separated and 6 (100%) divorced, exhibiting significant knowledge about what enhanced the chances of developing cervical cancer as shown above in Table 2.