Annex Publishers | www.annexpublishers.com Volume 3 | Issue 2 Awareness of Cervical Cancer Risk Factors, Screening Practices and Attitudes among Nurses in a Primary Health Care Setting of Morocco: A Cross-Sectional Study Najdi A *1,2 , Benaicha N 2 , El Fakir S 2 , Tachfouti N 2 , Berraho M 2 , Khazraji YC 3 , Belakhal L 4 , Abousselham L 5 , Bekkali R 3 and Nejjari C 2,6 1 School of Medicine of Tangier, Morocco 2 Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Community Health, School of Medicine of Fez, Morocco 3 Lalla Salma Foundation for Cancer Prevention and Treatment, Rabat, Morocco 4 Direction de l’épidémiologie et de Lutte contre les maladies, Ministry of Health of Morocco, Morocco 5 Directorate of Population, Ministry of Health of Morocco, Morocco 6 University Mohammed VI of Health Sciences, Morocco * Corresponding author: Najdi A, School of Medicine of Tangier, Morocco and Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Community Health, School of Medicine of Fez, Morocco, E-mail: najdi.adil2011@gmail. com Research Article Open Access Citation: Najdi A, Benaicha N, El Fakir S, Tachfouti N, Berraho M, et al. (2016) Awareness of Cervical Cancer Risk Factors, Screening Practices and Attitudes among Nurses in a Primary Health Care Setting of Morocco: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Cancer Sci Clin Oncol 3(2): 203. doi: 10.15744/2394-6520.3.203 Volume 3 | Issue 2 Journal of Cancer Science and Clinical Oncology ISSN: 2394-6520 Abstract Te efectiveness of the cervical cancer screening activities depends on physicians and nurses’ level of awareness and their adherence to the program. Keywords: Nurses; Cervical Cancer; Early detection; Morocco Introduction Globally, cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, with an estimate of 528 000 new cases and 266 000 death in 2012 (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2008). According to the some report, about 87% of these cases occur in developing and developed countries. Mortality rates are substantially lower than incidence with a ratio of mortality to incidence to 52%. Aim: To characterize nurse’s awareness, attitude and practice on cervical cancer screening in Morocco. Method: A national cross sectional study conducted on July 2011 in a representative sample of nurses carrying out in Moroccan health care facilities. Five Moroccan regions were selected and 22 centers were included with a total of 306 nurses. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on Socio demographic characteristics, Awareness about cervical cancer’s risk factors, HPV’s vaccination, and attitude regarding cervical cancer screening using the VIA test. Result: A total of 306 nurses were included in the survey, the mean age was 45,15±10,66 years, the majority of them (95, 5%) were females and carrying out in Urban health care facilities (83, 4%). When we asked nurses about their daily screening activities, 90% of them admitted they provide occasionally tests for cervical cancer screening for their patients but not regularly and not for all eligible patients. Univariate analysis of the data showed that nurses who work in rural areas (p<0,02), who had less seniority in the public service (p<0, 05) and who were younger (p<0,04), were less likely to perform cervical cancer screening in order to meet the targeted program’s objectives. Afer adjustment on confounding factors, working in the rural area remained the only associated factor with low screening practice among nurses (OR = 2, 9; p<0, 02). Conclusion: Tis study showed certain weaknesses regarding the functioning of the early detection program for cervical cancer at the primary health care level; mainly it shown the non-adherence of nurses at the rural area. Morocco has the highest mortality cervical cancer rates in Northern Africa. Around 10 million Moroccan women 15 y-older are at risk of developing cervical cancer [1]. According to Casablanca 2005 - 2007 registry, cervical cancer is the second female cancer afer breast cancer with 12.8% and a standardized incidence estimated at 15 per 100 000 female. An extrapolation at national level shows that each year; there will be approximately 2000 new cases of cervical cancer in Morocco [2]. Received Date: May 17, 2016 Accepted Date: September 09, 2016 Published Date: September 12, 2016