Influence of Social Media Campaign Messages on Awareness and Knowledge of Cervical Cancer among Female Undergraduates in South-West Nigeria

Abstract

Cervical cancer is a major global public health challenge, ranking as the second most prevalent cancer among women in Nigeria. Where screening programmes are available, lack of awareness and poor knowledge can lead to poor attitude towards the utilisation of such programmes. Deploying the mass media remains a viable health communication strategy in creating wide-spread awareness on cervical cancer. Particularly, with social media, being the most popular communication platform utilized by youths, it can be effective in promoting early detection of cervical cancer among young female adults who are susceptible to the disease once sexually active. Therefore, this study examined the awareness and knowledge of cervical cancer on social media by female undergraduates in South-West Nigeria. A total of 644 questionnaires were administered in eight universities using multiple sampling techniques. Mean, standard deviation and simple regression were used in the analysis of data gathered. Results revealed that social media campaign messages on cervical cancer had a significant influence on participants’ awareness of cervical cancer (F-statistic = 51.114; p-value = 0.000), and knowledge of cervical cancer (F-statistic = 49.049; p-value = 0.000). The study concluded that exposure to social media campaign messages on cervical cancer can effectively shape awareness and knowledge of cervical cancer. It’s recommended that health educators should strategically increase social media content that would bolster awareness on cervical cancer, particularly among the female youth demography.

Keywords: Social Media Campaign Messages, Awareness, Knowledge, Cervical Cancer, South-West Nigeria