Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya
Objective: This study assessed awareness of cervical cancer warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya, and examined sociodemographic associations with knowledge gaps. Methods: This cross-sectional study targeted a population of 3892 female high sc...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Scientific African |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227625002042 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849328648174174208 |
|---|---|
| author | Hussien Hamid Nour E. Almansoury Zobyda I. Elreshi Mohamed H.S. Ahmida Abdulla M. Elmansoury Mohamed Najah |
| author_facet | Hussien Hamid Nour E. Almansoury Zobyda I. Elreshi Mohamed H.S. Ahmida Abdulla M. Elmansoury Mohamed Najah |
| author_sort | Hussien Hamid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: This study assessed awareness of cervical cancer warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya, and examined sociodemographic associations with knowledge gaps. Methods: This cross-sectional study targeted a population of 3892 female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya. Based on a 95 % confidence interval and a 5 % margin of error, a minimum sample size of 350 participants was calculated using the Qualtrics.com sample size calculator. Ultimately, 200 teachers participated, resulting in a response rate of 57.1 %. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews utilizing the validated Cervical Cancer Awareness Measure (Cervical CAM) toolkit, which assessed awareness via both prompted and unprompted recall. Associations between awareness levels and sociodemographic variables (such as age and educational qualification) were analyzed using chi-square tests and ordinal logistic regression in SPSS v25.0, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Unprompted recall revealed that 60.5 % of participants could not identify any cervical cancer symptoms, while the rest identified only two—intermenstrual bleeding and malodorous discharge (18.2 %). Awareness improved with prompting, with vaginal bleeding being the most recognized symptom (78.5 % intermenstrual, 74 % postmenopausal), while nonspecific symptoms (e.g., pelvic pain [47 %], blood in stool/urine [30 %]) remained poorly identified. Composite scores indicated that 57.5 % had good symptom awareness; however, only 5 % felt ‘very confident’ in recognizing symptoms. Strikingly, no participant independently recalled risk factors. After prompting, 75.5 % remained unaware of HPV’s role, and 69 % did not recognize the importance of Pap tests. Symptoms awareness was significantly associated with higher education (Cramer’s V = 0.28, p = 0.001) and number of children (Cramer’s V = 0.22, p = 0.013), but no significant associations were found between sociodemographic factors and risk factor awareness. Conclusions: Female high school teachers in Benghazi exhibit limited awareness of cervical cancer symptoms and key risk factors, highlighting the need for school-based educational programs and targeted media campaigns to address these knowledge gaps. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3421e012084b44b280f3e52cde0a9b3d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2468-2276 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific African |
| spelling | doaj-art-3421e012084b44b280f3e52cde0a9b3d2025-08-20T03:47:32ZengElsevierScientific African2468-22762025-06-0128e0273410.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02734Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, LibyaHussien Hamid0Nour E. Almansoury1Zobyda I. Elreshi2Mohamed H.S. Ahmida3Abdulla M. Elmansoury4Mohamed Najah5Clinical Lab. Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, Libya; Corresponding author at: Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, Libya.Clinical Lab. Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, LibyaClinical Lab. Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, LibyaClinical Lab. Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, LibyaBasic Medical Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, LibyaBasic Medical Sciences Program, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, LibyaObjective: This study assessed awareness of cervical cancer warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya, and examined sociodemographic associations with knowledge gaps. Methods: This cross-sectional study targeted a population of 3892 female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya. Based on a 95 % confidence interval and a 5 % margin of error, a minimum sample size of 350 participants was calculated using the Qualtrics.com sample size calculator. Ultimately, 200 teachers participated, resulting in a response rate of 57.1 %. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews utilizing the validated Cervical Cancer Awareness Measure (Cervical CAM) toolkit, which assessed awareness via both prompted and unprompted recall. Associations between awareness levels and sociodemographic variables (such as age and educational qualification) were analyzed using chi-square tests and ordinal logistic regression in SPSS v25.0, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Unprompted recall revealed that 60.5 % of participants could not identify any cervical cancer symptoms, while the rest identified only two—intermenstrual bleeding and malodorous discharge (18.2 %). Awareness improved with prompting, with vaginal bleeding being the most recognized symptom (78.5 % intermenstrual, 74 % postmenopausal), while nonspecific symptoms (e.g., pelvic pain [47 %], blood in stool/urine [30 %]) remained poorly identified. Composite scores indicated that 57.5 % had good symptom awareness; however, only 5 % felt ‘very confident’ in recognizing symptoms. Strikingly, no participant independently recalled risk factors. After prompting, 75.5 % remained unaware of HPV’s role, and 69 % did not recognize the importance of Pap tests. Symptoms awareness was significantly associated with higher education (Cramer’s V = 0.28, p = 0.001) and number of children (Cramer’s V = 0.22, p = 0.013), but no significant associations were found between sociodemographic factors and risk factor awareness. Conclusions: Female high school teachers in Benghazi exhibit limited awareness of cervical cancer symptoms and key risk factors, highlighting the need for school-based educational programs and targeted media campaigns to address these knowledge gaps.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227625002042Cervical cancerAwarenessSymptomsRisk factorsCervical camLibya |
| spellingShingle | Hussien Hamid Nour E. Almansoury Zobyda I. Elreshi Mohamed H.S. Ahmida Abdulla M. Elmansoury Mohamed Najah Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya Scientific African Cervical cancer Awareness Symptoms Risk factors Cervical cam Libya |
| title | Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya |
| title_full | Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya |
| title_fullStr | Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya |
| title_short | Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in Benghazi, Libya |
| title_sort | cervical cancer awareness and knowledge gaps among female high school teachers in benghazi libya |
| topic | Cervical cancer Awareness Symptoms Risk factors Cervical cam Libya |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227625002042 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hussienhamid cervicalcancerawarenessandknowledgegapsamongfemalehighschoolteachersinbenghazilibya AT nourealmansoury cervicalcancerawarenessandknowledgegapsamongfemalehighschoolteachersinbenghazilibya AT zobydaielreshi cervicalcancerawarenessandknowledgegapsamongfemalehighschoolteachersinbenghazilibya AT mohamedhsahmida cervicalcancerawarenessandknowledgegapsamongfemalehighschoolteachersinbenghazilibya AT abdullamelmansoury cervicalcancerawarenessandknowledgegapsamongfemalehighschoolteachersinbenghazilibya AT mohamednajah cervicalcancerawarenessandknowledgegapsamongfemalehighschoolteachersinbenghazilibya |