Background: Carcinoma of the
uterine cervix is a deadly disease, but it is preventable. Cervical cytology
especially at postnatal visit can lead to its early detection and prompt
treatment. Methods: This was a prospective cross sectional study of postnatal
women to determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology and their socio-demographic
characteristics. Patients were recruited from the antenatal clinic and
counseled on the need for postnatal cervical smear. Only those who consented
and met the inclusion criteria were followed up in the postnatal clinic.
Institutional ethical clearance was also obtained. Researcher administered
questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic features while Aye’s
spatula and endocervical brush were used to collect specimen from the ectocervix
and endocervix respectively and smeared on individually labeled glass slides.
The samples were treated using the conventional Papanicolaou staining method
and reported using the Bethesda system. Researcher-administered questionnaire
generated data as well as results of cytology were analyzed using Epi-Info
version 3.5.1.0 (CDC Atlanta USA 2008). Colposcopy was done for smear positive
patients. Results: There were 100 women screened. Three percent had low grade
squamous intraepithelial lesion. There were no abnormal findings from the
Colposcopy of the three patients. Ninety-five percent of the women had no prior
knowledge of cervical cancer and Pap smear. Two percent of the women had a
family history of cervical cancer and both patients died of the disease due to
lack of facilities for treatment. Conclusions: Cervical cancer is a preventable
disease but women of the sub-region are under-screened. Postnatal Pap smear is a necessary tool
in its early diagnosis and treatment.
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