TY - JOUR
T1 - Healthcare provider challenges to early detection of cervical cancer at primary healthcare level in Rwanda
AU - Nkurunziza, Charles
AU - Ghebre, Rahel
AU - Magriples, Urania
AU - Ntasumbumuyange, Diomede
AU - Bazzett-Matabele, Lisa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Our objective was to assess the health facility related factors that cause delays in cervical cancer diagnosis at a primary healthcare level in Rwanda. Healthcare providers in outpatient clinics at 10 health centers in Kigali city and the Eastern province of Rwanda were surveyed. Eighty-five healthcare providers participated; 83.5% were nurses and the remainder were midwives. Only 15 (17.6%) reported prior training on visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) cervical cancer screening, and they were distributed among 6 of the 10 health centers surveyed. However, 76.5% of respondents reported that at least one person was trained in VIA at their health center. The basic equipment necessary for cervical cancer evaluation was reported to be generally available. Overall, only 31.8% of participants had good basic knowledge level on cervical cancer screening. No association was found between respondents’ knowledge about cervical cancer screening and profession, education level, work experience or reported prior training on VIA. There is a gap in the number of primary healthcare providers with the skills to perform pelvic exam and VIA cervical cancer screening at health centers in Rwanda. As health centers are the first point of contact for patients with the healthcare system, there is a need to improve their knowledge and skills in performing cervical cancer screening and detection.
AB - Our objective was to assess the health facility related factors that cause delays in cervical cancer diagnosis at a primary healthcare level in Rwanda. Healthcare providers in outpatient clinics at 10 health centers in Kigali city and the Eastern province of Rwanda were surveyed. Eighty-five healthcare providers participated; 83.5% were nurses and the remainder were midwives. Only 15 (17.6%) reported prior training on visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) cervical cancer screening, and they were distributed among 6 of the 10 health centers surveyed. However, 76.5% of respondents reported that at least one person was trained in VIA at their health center. The basic equipment necessary for cervical cancer evaluation was reported to be generally available. Overall, only 31.8% of participants had good basic knowledge level on cervical cancer screening. No association was found between respondents’ knowledge about cervical cancer screening and profession, education level, work experience or reported prior training on VIA. There is a gap in the number of primary healthcare providers with the skills to perform pelvic exam and VIA cervical cancer screening at health centers in Rwanda. As health centers are the first point of contact for patients with the healthcare system, there is a need to improve their knowledge and skills in performing cervical cancer screening and detection.
KW - Cervical cancer
KW - Early detection
KW - Global health
KW - Primary healthcare
KW - Rwanda
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108286736&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85108286736&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gore.2021.100810
DO - 10.1016/j.gore.2021.100810
M3 - Article
C2 - 34195330
AN - SCOPUS:85108286736
SN - 2211-338X
VL - 37
JO - Gynecologic Oncology Reports
JF - Gynecologic Oncology Reports
M1 - 100810
ER -