Dataset Information

Towards a cervical cancer-free future: women's healthcare decision making and cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We investigated the association between women's healthcare decision making and cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.

Design

Secondary data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of six countries in sub-Saharan Africa were used. We employed multilevel binary logistic regression modelling.

Setting

Sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants

Women aged 15-49 years in Benin (n=5282), Côte d'Ivoire (n=1925), Cameroon (n=7558), Kenya (n=6696), Namibia (n=1990) and Zimbabwe (n=5006).

Primary outcome measures

Cervical cancer screening uptake.

Results

The overall prevalence of cervical cancer screening across the six sub-Saharan African countries was 13.4%. Compared with women whose healthcare decisions were made solely by husbands/partners/someone else, the likelihood of cervical cancer screening uptake was significantly higher among women who took healthcare decisions in consultation with their husbands/partners (aOR=1.38; 95% CI 1.19 to 1.59), but highest among those who made healthcare decisions alone (aOR=1.66; 95% CI 1.44 to 1.91). Women aged between 40 and 45 years (aOR=5.18; 95% CI 3.15 to 8.52), those with higher education (aOR=2.13; 95% CI 1.57 to 2.88), those who had ever heard of cervical cancer (aOR=32.74; 95% CI 20.02 to 53.55), read newspaper or magazine at least once a week (aOR=2.11; 95% CI 1.83 to 2.44), listened to the radio at least once a week (aOR=1.35; 95% CI1.18 to 1.52) and those in households with richest wealth index (aOR=1.55; 95% CI 1.20 to 2.00) had significantly higher odds of screening for cervical cancer compared to their counterparts.

Conclusion

Women who are able to make autonomous healthcare decisions and those who practice shared decision making are more likely to uptake cervical cancer screening. Therefore, policy interventions should focus on empowering women to be able to take autonomous healthcare decisions or shared decision making while targeting subpopulations (ie, multiparous and rural-dwelling women, as well as those in other religious affiliations aside from Christianity) that are less likely to uptake cervical cancer screening. Also, the radio and print media could be leveraged in raising awareness about cervical cancer screening to accelerate cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.

SUBMITTER: Okyere J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9345091 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Towards a cervical cancer-free future: women's healthcare decision making and cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.

Okyere Joshua J Aboagye Richard Gyan RG Seidu Abdul-Aziz AA Asare Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah BY Mwamba Bupe B Ahinkorah Bright Opoku BO

BMJ open 20220729 7

<h4>Objective</h4>We investigated the association between women's healthcare decision making and cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.<h4>Design</h4>Secondary data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of six countries in sub-Saharan Africa were used. We employed multilevel binary logistic regression modelling.<h4>Setting</h4>Sub-Saharan Africa.<h4>Participants</h4>Women aged 15-49 years in Benin (n=5282), Côte d'Ivoire (n=1925), Cameroon (n=7558), Kenya (n=6696), Namibia (n= ...[more]

PMID: 35906053

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Project description:Women's empowerment is associated with engagement in some areas of healthcare, but its role in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services has not been previously considered. In this secondary analysis, we investigated the association of women's decision-making and uptake of health services for PMTCT. Using data from population-based household surveys, we included women who reported delivery in the 2-year period prior to the survey and were HIV-infected. We measured a woman's self-reported role in decision-making in her own healthcare, making of large purchases, schooling of children, and healthcare for children. For each domain, respondents were categorized as having an "active" or "no active" role. We investigated associations between decision-making and specific steps along the PMTCT cascade: uptake of maternal antiretroviral drugs, uptake of infant HIV prophylaxis, and infant HIV testing. We calculated unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios via logistic regression. From March to December 2011, 344 HIV-infected mothers were surveyed and 276 completed the relevant survey questions. Of these, 190 (69%) took antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy; 175 (64%) of their HIV-exposed infants received antiretroviral prophylaxis; and 160 (58%) had their infant tested for HIV. There was no association between decision-making and maternal or infant antiretroviral drug use. We observed a significant association between decision-making and infant HIV testing in univariate analyses (OR 1.56-1.85; p?<?0.05); however, odds ratios for the decision-making indicators were no longer statistically significant predictors of infant HIV testing in multivariate analyses. In conclusion, women who reported an active role in decision-making trended toward a higher likelihood of uptake of infant testing in the PMTCT cascade. Larger studies are needed to evaluate the impact of empowerment initiatives on the PMTCT service utilization overall and infant testing in particular.

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Dataset Information

Towards a cervical cancer-free future: women's healthcare decision making and cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Primary outcome measures

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Towards a cervical cancer-free future: women's healthcare decision making and cervical cancer screening uptake in sub-Saharan Africa.

Similar Datasets

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