Higher educational attainment associated with reduced likelihood of abnormal cervical lesions among Zambian women - a cross sectional study

Background The high burden of cervical cancer in Zambia prompted the Ministry of Health and partners to develop the cervical cancer prevention program in Zambia (CCPPZ) in 2006. Despite this intervention more women continue to die from the disease and there is little understanding of factors that may be linked with abnormal cervical lesions in the general population. We therefore examined if educational attainment is associated with abnormal cervical lesions among Zambian women aged 15 to 49 years. Methods This study used data from the cervical cancer prevention program in Zambia, where a total of 14,294 women aged 15 to 49 years were screened for cervical cancer at nine health facilities between October 2013 and September 2014. The data represents women from six provinces of Zambia, namely Southern, Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, North-western and Eastern provinces. Step-wise logistic regression analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for educational attainment with presence of abnormal cervical lesions as outcome. Multiple imputation was further used to obtain the imputed stabilized estimates for educational attainment. Results The prevalence of abnormal cervical lesions, using the Visual Inspection with Acetic-acid (VIA) test was 10.7% ( n = 1523). Educational attainment was inversely associated with abnormal cervical lesions (AOR = 0.75; 95% CI:0.70–0.81, AOR = 0.74; 95% CI:0.68–0.81 and AOR = 0.46; 95% CI:0.41–0.51) among women with primary, secondary and tertiary education, respectively, compared to those with no formal education. Conclusion We find reduced likelihood of abnormal cervical lesions in educated women, suggesting a differential imbalance with women who have no formal education. These findings may be a reflection of inequalities associated with access to cervical cancer screening, making the service inadequately accessible for lower educated groups. This might also indicate serious limitations in awareness efforts instituted in the formative phases of the program. These findings underline the prevailing need for urgent concerted efforts in repackaging cervical cancer awareness programs targeting women with low or no formal education in whom the risk may be even higher.