TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of a culturally tailored text messaging program for promoting cervical cancer screening in accra, Ghana
T2 - a quasi-experimental trial
AU - Addo-Lartey, Adolphina Addoley
AU - Bonful, Harriet Affran
AU - Sefenu, Ransford Selasi
AU - Abagre, Timothy Agandah
AU - Asamoah, Alexander
AU - Bandoh, Delia Akosua
AU - Awua, Adolf Kofi
AU - Adu-Aryee, Nii Armah
AU - Dedey, Florence
AU - Adanu, Richard Mawuena Kofi
AU - Okuyemi, Kolawole Stephen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, The Author(s).
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - Introduction: Despite breakthroughs in cervical cancer detection, resource-constrained countries continue to have a disproportionately high incidence and death rate. Mhealth has been identified as an important tool for increasing cervical cancer screening rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. We determined whether sending Ghanaian women culturally tailored one-way mobile phone SMS text messages about cervical cancer would encourage the uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) test. Methods: From August to November 2016, 88 women aged 18 to 39 living or working in an urban community (Accra, Ghana) participated in a quasi-experimental study. For 8 weeks, 32 SMS messages regarding cervical cancer were developed and sent to the personal phones of intervention arm participants (n = 42). Women in the control group (n = 46) received SMS texts with general health and lifestyle advice. Fischer’s exact tests were performed to assess cervical cancer screening uptake and associated reasons for non-uptake between the intervention and control groups (p < 0.05). Results: At the baseline, women differed in terms of ethnicity and wealth. After the intervention, participants’ self-reported risk factors for cervical cancer, such as early menarche, usual source of medical treatment, family history of cancer, smoking, and alcohol history, changed. None of the women in the intervention group sought cervical cancer screening after the intervention, but only one (2.2%) of the control arm participants did. Almost all the women (> 95%) agreed that an HPV test was essential and that regular healthcare check-ups could help prevent cervical cancer. Some women believed that avoiding particular foods could help prevent cervical cancer (23.8% intervention vs. 58.7% control, p < 0.001). Time constraints and out-of-pocket expenses were significant barriers to cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: A one-way SMS delivered to urban women did not increase cervical cancer screening attendance. The time spent in screening facilities and the lack of coverage by the National Health Insurance Scheme limited screening uptake. We urge for the establishment of screening centers in all healthcare facilities, as well as the inclusion of cervical cancer screening in healthcare programs through cost-sharing.
AB - Introduction: Despite breakthroughs in cervical cancer detection, resource-constrained countries continue to have a disproportionately high incidence and death rate. Mhealth has been identified as an important tool for increasing cervical cancer screening rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. We determined whether sending Ghanaian women culturally tailored one-way mobile phone SMS text messages about cervical cancer would encourage the uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) test. Methods: From August to November 2016, 88 women aged 18 to 39 living or working in an urban community (Accra, Ghana) participated in a quasi-experimental study. For 8 weeks, 32 SMS messages regarding cervical cancer were developed and sent to the personal phones of intervention arm participants (n = 42). Women in the control group (n = 46) received SMS texts with general health and lifestyle advice. Fischer’s exact tests were performed to assess cervical cancer screening uptake and associated reasons for non-uptake between the intervention and control groups (p < 0.05). Results: At the baseline, women differed in terms of ethnicity and wealth. After the intervention, participants’ self-reported risk factors for cervical cancer, such as early menarche, usual source of medical treatment, family history of cancer, smoking, and alcohol history, changed. None of the women in the intervention group sought cervical cancer screening after the intervention, but only one (2.2%) of the control arm participants did. Almost all the women (> 95%) agreed that an HPV test was essential and that regular healthcare check-ups could help prevent cervical cancer. Some women believed that avoiding particular foods could help prevent cervical cancer (23.8% intervention vs. 58.7% control, p < 0.001). Time constraints and out-of-pocket expenses were significant barriers to cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: A one-way SMS delivered to urban women did not increase cervical cancer screening attendance. The time spent in screening facilities and the lack of coverage by the National Health Insurance Scheme limited screening uptake. We urge for the establishment of screening centers in all healthcare facilities, as well as the inclusion of cervical cancer screening in healthcare programs through cost-sharing.
KW - Cervical cancer
KW - Cervical screening
KW - Ghana
KW - HPV
KW - Mhealth-cervix
KW - Mobile text message
KW - Pap smear
KW - SMS
KW - Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181236707&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12905-023-02867-2
DO - 10.1186/s12905-023-02867-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85181236707
SN - 1472-6874
VL - 24
JO - BMC Women's Health
JF - BMC Women's Health
IS - 1
M1 - 22
ER -