title: Determinants of acceptance of cervical cancer screening in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe how demographic characteristics and knowledge of cervical cancer influence screening acceptance among women living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multistage cluster sampling was carried out in 45 randomly selected streets in Dar es Salaam. Women between the ages of 25-59 who lived in the sampled streets were invited to a cervical cancer screening; 804 women accepted and 313 rejected the invitation. Information on demographic characteristics and knowledge of cervical cancer were obtained through structured questionnaire interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women aged 35-44 and women aged 45-59 had increased ORs of 3.52 and 7.09, respectively, for accepting screening. Increased accepting rates were also found among single women (OR 2.43) and among women who had attended primary or secondary school (ORs of 1.81 and 1.94). Women who had 0-2 children were also more prone to accept screening in comparison with women who had five or more children (OR 3.21). Finally, knowledge of cervical cancer and awareness of the existing screening program were also associated with increased acceptance rates (ORs of 5.90 and 4.20).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are identifiable subgroups where cervical cancer screening can be increased in Dar es Salaam. Special attention should be paid to women of low education and women of high parity. In addition, knowledge and awareness raising campaigns that goes hand in hand with culturally acceptable screening services will likely lead to an increased uptake of cervical cancer screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Crispin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kahesa
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kjaer
authors.forename: Julius
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mwaiselage
authors.forename: Twalib
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ngoma
authors.forename: Britt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tersbol
authors.forename: Myassa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dartell
authors.forename: Vibeke
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rasch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013636:Tanzania; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*