Volume 7, Issue 7, July – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology ISSN No:-2456-2165 IJISRT22JUL1115 www.ijisrt.com 1747 Effect of Previous Information on Cervical Cancer on Perception and Acceptability of Pap Smear Screening among Female Health Workers in Selected Departments of General Hospital, Idanre, Ondo State, Nigeria Mary Idowu Edward, Folake Beatrice Adumaza Department of Adult and Mental Health Nursing Faculty of Nursing Science, University of Medical Sciences, Akure Campus, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria Helen Oluwatoyin Adebada Continuous Education Department Federal Medical Center, Owo, Nigeria Esther Omoyemi Bejide General Hospital, Idanre, Nigeria Abstract:- Early detection and prompt treatment of cancer and pre-cancerous conditions provide the best possible protection against cancer. The study was conducted to assess the effect of previous information on cervical cancer perception and acceptability of pap smear screeningamong female health workers in selected departments of General Hospital, Idanre, Ondo state. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used for the study. A simple random sampling technique was used to select hundred (100) respondents out of all the health workers in the hospital. A self-designed questionnaire was used to elicit information from respondents. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25. at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive data were summarized using frequencies and percentages while Chi- square analysis was used to test the relationship between knowledge, socio demographic characteristics and acceptance of Pap smear. Findings revealed that the respondents have good knowledge about cervical cancer (91.9%) and pap smear screening (82.5%). Also, all of the respondents had good perception about pap smear screening but acceptability is very poor because of the following reasons; lack of awareness (12%), fear of pain (17%), lack of awareness (12%), fear of pain (17%), lack of time (27%), fear of embarrassment if cancer is detected (13%), and not at risk of cervical cancer (13%). Knowledge of pap smear screening, profession and educational level have a statistically significant association with the acceptance of pap smear screening (p < 0.05). Health workers should act as an agent of change in the society by being in the fore-front of pap smear screening programmes. Keywords:- Perception, Acceptability, Pap smear screening, Female healthcare workers. I. INTRODUCTION Globally, cervical cancer is second to the breast cancer as the commonest female cancer [1]. According to the Worldwide cancer data of the World Cancer Research Fund [2], there are 569,847 new cervical cancer diagnosed alone in 2018. In the fact sheet of IARC [3], Nigeria has a population of 50.33 million women ages 15 years and older who are at risk of developing cervical cancer. It was indicated that every year in Nigeria, 14943 women are diagnosed withcervical cancerand 10403 die from the disease. About 3.5% of women in the general population are estimated to harbor cervical Human PapillomaVirus (HPV)-16/18 infection at a given time, and 66.9% of invasive cervical cancers are attributed to HPVs 16 or 18 [3]. Although, these figures differ greatly from those reported in developed countries where cervical malignancy has been drastically reduced to the barest minimum; this has been attributed to effective cervical screening using predominantly, the Papanicolaou (Pap) cervical smear [4]. Furthermore, [5] stated that the incidence of cervical cancer is higher in the underdeveloped countries than in developed countries. In underdeveloped countries, most women with cancer of the cervix usually present late to the hospital unlike in the developed countries where most of the women present early and cure can be realistically expected [5]. This is partly due to education and empowerment of women, which means that in developed countries, they present early once there are symptoms or as part of screening programmes for cervical cancer. The cervical Pap smear is a relatively cheap, effective cervical cancer screening program for the detection of carcinoma of the uterine cervix at the precursor stage. Pap smear consists of taking a sample from the transformation zone of the cervix, smearing on a glass slide and reviewing for atypical cells after staining [6]. All the screening methods for cervical cancer, the Pap smear is acknowledged to have commendable sensitivity and specificity as well as positive