Association Between Individual and Intimate Partner Factors and Cervical Cancer Screening in Kenya

Cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women in Kenya. Although cervical cancer screening could reduce illness and death, screening rates remain low. Kenyan women's individual characteristics and intimate partner factors may be associated with cervical cancer screening; however, a lack of nationally representative data has precluded study until recently. The objective of our study was to examine individual and intimate partner factors associated with cervical cancer screening in Kenya.

We conducted secondary data analysis of responses by women who completed the cervical cancer screening and domestic violence questions in the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 2014 (N = 3,222). By using multivariable regression analyses, we calculated the association of cervical cancer screening with age, religion, education, wealth, recent exposure to family planning on television, head of household's sex, and experience of intimate partner violence.

Rates of cervical cancer screening among women in Kenya increased with age. The wealthiest women and women with post-secondary education had greater odds of reporting being screened for cervical cancer than the poorest women and uneducated women. Christians and women exposed to prevention messaging on television had higher odds of screening than Muslims and women with no exposure. Victims of intimate partner violence had lower odds of being screened than women who had not experienced intimate partner violence.

Identified barriers to screening in this sample mirror previous findings, though with additional nuances. Model fit data and theoretical review suggest that additional, unmeasured variables may contribute to variability in cervical cancer screening rates. Inclusion of additional variables specific to cervical cancer in future national surveys could strengthen the ability to identify factors associated with screening.