Awareness of cervical cancer and screening in Benin and Cameroon: analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS)

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality are high in Africa. We assessed cervical cancer and screening awareness in two West African countries. We used data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Benin (DHS 2017-2018) and Cameroon (DHS 2018). Women (n=21322) aged 15-49 were interviewed on awareness of cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used. Awareness of cervical cancer was low among women in Cameroon (46.1%) and very low in Benin (9.5%). Among those aware of cervical cancer, 51.4% in Benin and 59.7% in Cameroon were also aware of cervical screening. In the adjusted analysis, women in Cameroon aged 45+ had the highest awareness odds of both cervical cancer (adjusted odds ratio-aOR 2.91, [2.36-3.60]) and screening (aOR 1.75, [1.33-2.29]). In Benin, women aged 45+ had the highest cervical cancer awareness (aOR 1.89 [1.23-2.91]) while screening awareness was highest in women aged 25-34 years (aOR 1.98, [1.20-3.27]). Women with higher education were six to nine times more aware of cervical cancer and three to four times more aware of cervical screening than women with no education in Benin and Cameroon respectively. Additionally, cervical cancer awareness was approximately four times higher in the richest wealth quintile in Cameroon. In Benin, the odds of awareness of cervical cancer were increased with daily internet use (aOR 3.61, [2.45-5.32]) and radio listening once a week (aOR 1.73 [1.04-2.88]) compared to no internet and no radio listening respectively. In Cameroon, both awareness of cervical cancer and screening increased with daily internet use (aOR 1.95 [1.61-2.35]) and (aOR 1.35 [1.10-1.67]) respectively. There is a need to increase awareness of cervical cancer and screening in Benin and Cameroon and likely among other West African countries. The internet and radio appear to be important potentially effective means for raising awareness. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The study is conducted as part of the fulfilment of a Ph.D. funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The funder has no role in the study. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Not Applicable The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: N/A I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Not Applicable I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Not Applicable I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Not Applicable All the data are made available on authorisation by the DHS repository ().