Barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening uptake among women aged 25-49: insights from a cross-sectional study in Kiambu County, Kenya

Background: Cervical cancer ranks fourth in terms of incidence and mortality among women, despite being a highly preventable disease. To prevent cervical cancer, screening is essential. This study aimed to determine the barriers and Facilitators to cervical cancer screening among women aged 25-49 in Kiambu Town, Kiambu County, Kenya. Methods: This study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design, where qualitative and quantitative data were obtained for triangulation purposes. Participants in the study were chosen using a multi-stage sampling technique. Barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening were assessed using binary logistic regression and chi-square analysis. For quantitative data analysis, SPSS version 29 was utilized, and p≤0.05 was the threshold for statistical significance. Thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data. Results: In this study, the uptake of cervical cancer screening was 40.2%. Shorter travel times of 1-30 minutes to the nearest hospital (OR=2.9, 95% CI: 0.130-0.753, p=0.01) and shorter waiting times of 1-30 minutes (OR=2.3, 95% CI: 0.253-1.365, p=0.04), were found to be facilitators to cervical cancer screening which increased the odds. Conversely, poor patient-friendly services (OR=7.8, 95% CI: 0.002-1.241, p=0.009) reduced the odds of cervical cancer screening. Conclusions: This study showed suboptimal uptake of cervical cancer screening among Kiambu women. Multipronged approaches are needed to address barriers such as long travel and waiting times which could enhance cervical cancer screening uptake. These insights are critical for reducing the cervical cancer burden among women in Kenya.