Health seeking behaviour of women with cervical cancer at Gynaecological Ward- Zomba and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospitals, Malawi
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Date
2012-08-01
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Abstract
Worldwide cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer in women and the leading female cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South East Asia. It causes an estimated 275,000 deaths in the world annually with the highest prevalence being in the developing countries. In Malawi, between 2001 and 2002, cervical cancer accounted for approximately 28% of all female cancers nationally. Cervical cancer is preventable and Malawi is one of the African countries that has had the greatest success in introducing cervical cancer prevention and treatment. Despite the effort by the Malawi government to increase sites for cervical cancer screening, women still report late for cervical cancer services. The study was conducted at Zomba and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital gynaecological wards since these are tertiary health institutions which are also referral centres. It was done to explore health seeking behaviour of women with cervical cancer. The target population for this study was all women diagnosed with cervical cancer that had been admitted at the hospital at any stage but not terminally ill patients. The planned sample size was thirty but it reached saturation at twenty-four participants. Data collection was done using semi-structured interview guide and face to face in-depth interviews which were conducted in Chichewa. The data was analysed using content analysis. The study revealed that women have knowledge of symptoms and risk factors of cervical cancer. However, they lacked knowledge of the causes of cervical cancer as such they thought the symptoms would stop or that they had been bewitched and first visited the traditional healer. The women also encountered a lot of challenges to access health care services. They reported challenges in terms of distance, transport, economic factors, family support and health care providers. The women need to have information about cervical cancer by increasing awareness of the disease through using locally understood messages. Women should be empowered to make decisions about their health as well as financially. More nurses and clinicians should be trained on cervical cancer screening so that all districts and some selected health centres should be able to provide the service to women in order to prevent them from walking long distances. Ministry of Health should prioritize cervical cancer as a national problem and allocate substantial resources for national awareness. There is also need to address the challenges for the women to access the services in an operable state.