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The impact of community health educators on uptake of cervical and breast cancer prevention services in Nigeria
Author(s) -
Chigbu Chibuike O.,
Onyebuchi Azubuike K.,
Onyeka Tonia C.,
Odugu Boniface U.,
Dim Cyril C.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/ijgo.12150
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical cancer , breast cancer , vaccination , population , intervention (counseling) , health education , breast cancer screening , cancer prevention , gynecology , cancer , family medicine , obstetrics , public health , mammography , environmental health , nursing , immunology
Objective To determine the impact of trained community health educators on the uptake of cervical and breast cancer screening, and HPV vaccination in rural communities in southeast Nigeria. Methods A prospective population‐based intervention study, with a before‐and‐after design, involved four randomly selected communities in southeast Nigeria from February 2014 to February 2016. Before the intervention, baseline data were collected on the uptake of cervical and breast cancer prevention services. The intervention was house‐to‐house education on cervical cancer and breast cancer prevention. Postintervention outcome measures included the uptake of cervical and breast cancer screening, and HPV vaccination within 6 months of intervention. Results In total, 1327 women were enrolled. Before the intervention, 42 (3.2%) women had undergone cervical cancer screening; afterwards, 897 (67.6%) women had received screening ( P< 0.001). Clinical breast examination was performed for 59 (4.4%) women before and 897 (67.6%) after the intervention ( P< 0.001). Only 2 (0.9%) of 214 children eligible for HPV vaccination had received the vaccine before versus 71 (33.2%) after the intervention ( P< 0.001). Conclusion The use of community health educators for house‐to‐house cervical and breast cancer prevention education was associated with significant increases in the uptake of cervical cancer screening, clinical breast examination, and HPV vaccination.