1 Introduction Cervical cancer is the commonest form of genital ma- lignancy among women [1-4]. In the United States, as at 2009, estimated new cases and deaths from cervical can- cer were 11,270 cases and 4,070 deaths respectively [5]. Cervical cancer is the leading malignancy in North-east Brazil where its annual incidence is 83cases/100,000 women [6]. In Uganda, cervical cancer is the common- est cancer of women with over 80% women diagnosed in Mulago national hospital, having advanced disease [7]. Despite being considered a preventable disease, cervical cancer remains the second most common malignancy in women worldwide with a high incidence in under- developed countries such as Nigeria [8-10]. In Nigeria, the incidence rate of cervical cancer was 25/100,000 as at 2005 and over 10,000 women die of cervical cancer annually usually in a painful, miserable and undignified manners [11]. However, a significant decrease in incidence and mor- tality can be expected as a result of population-based screening programme [12]. A number of authors sug- gested a decrease in mortality by up to 80% provided that the screening programme is well organized and majority of the target population participate in it [12]. Considering the prospect of elimination of the disease by vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) in the near future, at least one or two genera- tions, screening for the disease therefore remains the most effective strategy in the control of cervical can- cer [12]. Epidemiologic evidence has demonstrated that in terms of risk factors cervical cancer behaves as a sexually transmitted disease [13-15]. Studies have also consist- ently indicated that cervical cancer risk is strongly influ- enced by measures of sexual activity as seen in number of sexual partners, age at first sexual intercourse, and sexual behavior of the woman’s male partner. Cervical cancer is almost always caused by the human papillo- ma virus (HPV) [16,17]. This study therefore aimed at identifying the risk factors for cervical cancer and also screened the at-risk women between 25-64 years of age in Olufadi community for cervical cancer using Papani- colaou smear. The respondents selected were apparently healthy subjects whose HIV status were not determined or known prior to the conduct of the study. ORIGINAL ARTICLE Prevalence and risk factors of cervical cancer among women in an urban community of Kwara State, North Central Nigeria K.A. DUROWADE 1 , G.K. OSAGBEMI 1 , A.G. SALAUDEEN 1 , O.I. MUSA 1 , T.M. AKANDE 1 , O.A. BABATUNDE 4 , H.O. RAJI 2 , B.S. OKESINA 2 , A.A. FOWOWE 2 , O.O.K. IBRAHIM 3 , O.M. KOLAWOLE 5 1  Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria; 2  Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria; 3  Department of Pathology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria; 4  Department of Community Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti state, Nigeria; 5  Department of Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria Key words Prevalence • Risk factors • Cervical cancer • Nigeria Summary Background. Cervical cancer is the second most common malig- nancy in women worldwide with a high incidence in under-devel- oped countries and Nigeria is one of these countries. This study aimed at screening for cervical cancer using Papanicolaou smear and to identify risk factors for cervical cancer among women in Olufadi community, Kwara state, North-central Nigeria. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study involving the screen- ing of women aged 25-64 years for cervical cancer using Papani- colaou smear. Respondents were selected through systematic random sampling of households. Interviewer- administered ques- tionnaire and clinical report form were also used to collect data. In addition, Pap smear samples were taken. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15. Results. Only 10(5.0%) respondents had positive cytology result, while the rest were normal. Of the 10 positive cytology results, 1(10.0%) was high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL) while the remaining 9(90.0%) were low grade squa- mous intraepithelial lesion (LGSIL) which corresponds to 0.5% and 4.5% of the total respondents respectively. Risk factors for cervical cancer identified included coitarche, tobacco smoking, number of sexual partners and family history of cervical cancer. Conclusion. The findings from this study attest to the increasing burden of cervical cancer. The high number of positive results obtained from the study coupled with the presence of risk factors was an indication of how useful regular screening will be in the early detection of cervical cancer. J PREV MED HYG 2012; 53: 85-88