Regular uptake of breast and cervical cancer screening are recommended for early detection of these two most common types of carcinoma among women in developing countries. Previous studies have demonstrated the occurrence of a strong urban/rural differential in several health indicators and the rate of utilization of health services in the areas of infectious and chronic diseases, mental and maternal healthcare utilization in Kenya. However, that of breast and cervical cancer screening has not been reported. In this study we aim to measure the prevalence of uptake of mammography and cervical cancer screening, and assess urban/rural differences in the uptake of the screening services for these two diseases.

Methods

Cross-sectional data were extracted from the latest KDHS conducted in the country. Subjects were 11,138 women ageing between 15 and 49 years. Outcome variables were self-reported screening status of breast and cervical cancer. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression results were generated to explore the regional variation in utilization of cervical cancer and mammography screening.

Result

Women who took both of types of screenings were more likely to be residing in the urban areas (54.3% vs 45.7% for cervical cancer and 55.7% vs 44.3% for breast cancer). In the univariate analysis, urban women had respectively 62% and 90% higher odds of taking cervical and breast cancer screening compared to rural women. The association remained significant even after adjusting for the covariates in the multivariate analyses which showed respectively 12% and 14% higher odds of breast and cervical cancer screening among urban women compared to rural women.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that interventions to promote breast and cervical cancer screening utilization are necessary for rural women. Regional barriers that are preventing rural women from using the screening services as well as their urban counterparts needs to be identified.