Abstract

Purpose: Cervical cancer (CC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women living in third-world countries. CC is
preventable, with the possibility of complete treatment if detected early. The objective of the study was to assess the level of
knowledge, attitude, and practice on CC screening (CCS) among female university students (FUS) in Ishaka, western Uganda.
Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study among FUS (n = 407) in western Uganda conducted after the first nationwide
lockdown in Uganda. Information was collected using a questionnaire and descriptively presented as frequency and percentages.
Results: The majority of our respondents were medical students 283 (69.5%), below 25 years 339 (83.3%), with Anglican Christian
religious background 150 (36.9%). Respondents above the age of 25 years (p = 0.0052) and those in the medical profession (p < 0.001) had
more knowledge. More medical students had a better attitude (p = 0.0043) and favorable practices (0.0134) compared to their non-medical
counterparts. There is a weak correlation between attitude (r = 0.206, p < 0.001) and practice (r = 0.181, p = 0.0003) with knowledge on CCS.
Conclusion: Observation from the present study suggests the need for more efforts in the fight against cervical cancer and
encouragement of positive attitude and practice towards cervical cancer screening and uptake of vaccination.