Objectives: The proportion of women screened for cervical cancer in Tanzania remains small at 6-21%. Even though some studies have been conducted to address barriers, the screening uptake remains low, which denotes the presence of unidentified barriers. The main objective of this study is to assess the predictors in the uptake of cervical cancer screening (CCS) among women in Tanzania.
Methods: This is a community-based cross-sectional study conducted to obtain quantitative data through validated questionnaires to assess predictors of CCS.
Results: 1013 (91.8%) of the respondents had not been screened for cervical cancer. Three predictors of CCS were identified in this study; screening intention, health beliefs, and knowledge level. 600 (54.4%) of respondents had no screening intention. 552 (50%) had negative health beliefs, and 585 (53%) had inadequate knowledge of cervical cancer and CCS. Respondents who had no intention to screen were 0.482 (AOR) times less likely to uptake CCS (P = 0.002; 95% CI: 0.305, 0.761).
Conclusions: The ongoing community-awareness raising campaigns should be coupled with community knowledge-raising campaign, and there should be an establishing of peer-supporting screening programs in communities.
Keywords: Attitude; Awareness; Cervical cancer; Health behaviour; Health belief; Intention; Knowledge; Screening.