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Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... 2015The aim of the study was to assess the extent of knowledge, attitudes and practical behavior of women in Bojnourd conerning the Pap smear test.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the study was to assess the extent of knowledge, attitudes and practical behavior of women in Bojnourd conerning the Pap smear test.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This cross-sectional and population-based study was conducted with 1000 Iranian women aged 15-60 years old in Bojnourd city. In order to collect the data, a validated questionnaire was provided in four sections covering demographic information and questions about knowledge, attitude and practice about the Pap smear. Statistical analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 17.0) applying a 0.05 significance level.
RESULTS
Evaluation of knowledge showed that 146 women (14.6%) had very weak, and 594 women (59.4%) had weak knowledge. In contrast, most of the women studied, 873 (87.3%), had a positive attitude toward the Pap smear test. According to the findings, 375 women (37.6%) had done this test so far. Findings indicated that the extent of knowledge had a meaningful relationship with the attitude status (p<0.0001). Also, there was a meaningful relationship between knowledge and practice, so that the weakest practice was seen in women who had weak knowledge (61.1%), (p<0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS
According to findings of this research, most women do not have an appropriate knowledge about the necessity of having the Pap smear test, so that only a low percentage of women had undergone this test.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Early Detection of Cancer; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Iran; Middle Aged; Papanicolaou Test; Surveys and Questionnaires; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Young Adult
PubMed: 25773804
DOI: 10.7314/apjcp.2015.16.5.2013 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... Jul 2020Cervical cancer is preventable. In Malaysia, women are found to have good awareness of the disease and yet, the Pap smear uptake is still poor. Measuring health literacy...
BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer is preventable. In Malaysia, women are found to have good awareness of the disease and yet, the Pap smear uptake is still poor. Measuring health literacy level could explain this discrepancy. This study aims to determine the relationship between health literacy, level of knowledge of cervical cancer and Pap smear with attitude towards Pap smear among women attending pre-marital course.
METHODS
A cross sectional study was performed in three randomly selected centres that organised pre-marital courses. All Malay Muslim women participants aged 18 to 40 years old were recruited while non-Malaysian, illiterate, and had hysterectomy were excluded. Validated self-administered questionnaires used were European Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16 Malay) and Knowledge and attitude towards Cervical Cancer and Pap Smear Questionnaire. The mean percentage score (mean± SD) was calculated, with higher scores showed better outcomes. Multiple linear regression was used to measure the relationship of independent variables with attitude towards Pap smear.
RESULTS
A total of 417 participants were recruited with a mean age of 24.9 ± 3.56 years old. Prevalence of awareness of cervical cancer was 91.6% (n=382, 95% CI: 89.0%, 94.2%) and mean percentage score was 74.7%±7.6. Prevalence of awareness of Pap smear was 59.0% (n=246, 95% CI: 54.2%, 63.8%) and mean percentage score was 80.2% ± 6.5. The health literacy mean score was 13.3±3.6, with minimum score 0 and maximum score 16. The mean percentage score of attitudes towards Pap smear was 64.8%±9.3. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated significant relationship between health literacy (p=0.047) and knowledge of Pap smear (p<0.001) with attitude towards Pap smear.
CONCLUSION
A higher health literacy with high knowledge of Pap smear improves the attitude towards Pap smear. Pre-marital course is an opportunistic platform to disseminate information to improve health literacy and knowledge of cervical cancer and Pap smear screening.
Topics: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Early Detection of Cancer; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Literacy; Humans; Islam; Malaysia; Marriage; Papanicolaou Test; Prognosis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Young Adult
PubMed: 32711428
DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.7.2021 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... Apr 2019Background: The main barrier for women to receive Papanicolaou (Pap) smear tests and immunization is lack of knowledge about the disease’s signs and symptoms,...
Background: The main barrier for women to receive Papanicolaou (Pap) smear tests and immunization is lack of knowledge about the disease’s signs and symptoms, women’s attitudes toward prevention programs and cultural myths and beliefs. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to measure women’s knowledge, attitudes and practices about cervical cancer and the Pap smear test in the southern region of Saudi Arabia and to assess the findings in relation with women’s demographics. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted at the Armed Forces Hospital Southern Region Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic using a self-administered questionnaire with a sample size of 255 women between the ages of 15 and 65 years. Results: Forty-three percent of the women in this region are aware of cervical cancer, but do not recognize its risk factors, implications, timing or main cause, which is Human papillomavirus (HPV). In fact, the primary source of information was obtained through social media. Only two women conducted Pap smear test and that was based on doctor’s referral, where women’s main reason from not conducting the test was feeling good and no need. Conclusions: There is a need, therefore, to create awareness programs for cervical cancer, its causes and risk factors, as well as its preventive measures for women in the southern region of Saudi Arabia.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Papanicolaou Test; Papillomaviridae; Papillomavirus Infections; Prognosis; Saudi Arabia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Young Adult
PubMed: 31030492
DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.4.1177 -
BMC Public Health Sep 2012The organized Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (CCSP) in Italy might represent an occasion to deliver smoking cessation (SC) counselling to women attending the Pap... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
The organized Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (CCSP) in Italy might represent an occasion to deliver smoking cessation (SC) counselling to women attending the Pap test examination. Evidence of effectiveness of physical activity (PA) promotion and intervention in adjunct to SC counselling is not strong.Objective of the SPRINT trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a standard SC counselling intervention delivered by trained midwives in the CCSP, and whether the adjunct of a PA counselling to the SC counselling might increase quit rates.
METHODS/DESIGN
We undertook a randomized controlled trial of 1,100 women undergoing the Pap examination in the three study centres Florence, Turin, and Mantua: 363 were randomly assigned to the SC counselling arm, 366 to the SC + PA counselling arm, and 371 to the control group. The intervention was a standard brief SC counselling combined with a brief counselling on increasing PA, and was tailored according to the Di Clemente-Prochaska motivational stages of change for SC and/or PA. Primary outcomes were quit rates, improvement in the motivational stages of change for SC, and reduced daily cigarette consumption. Analysis was by intention to treat.
RESULTS
Participants randomized in both intervention arms and in the preparation stage of change for SC doubled their likelihood of quitting at 6-month follow-up in comparison to controls (odds ratio [OR]=2.1, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]:1.0-4.6). Moreover, participants in the intervention arms and in the contemplation stage were more likely to reduce their daily cigarette consumption after the intervention (OR=1.8, 95% CI:1.1-3.0). Our study did not show any effect of PA counselling on various outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
Smoking cessation counselling delivered by midwives to smokers in preparation and contemplation stages of change during the Pap-smear screening was effective and should be recommended, given the high number of women attending the cervical cancer screening programme in Italy. Moreover, the daily number of women invited for the Pap-smear examination should be slightly lowered, in order to let midwives deliver SC counselling to smokers.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN52660565.
Topics: Adult; Confidence Intervals; Counseling; Exercise; Female; Health Promotion; Humans; Italy; Middle Aged; Midwifery; Odds Ratio; Papanicolaou Test; Papillomavirus Infections; Smoking Cessation; Vaginal Smears
PubMed: 22950883
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-740 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jun 2022Pap smear screening can detect cervical cancer early, but is underutilized. Motivational factors play a role in ensuring that women undergo Pap smear screening. This...
Pap smear screening can detect cervical cancer early, but is underutilized. Motivational factors play a role in ensuring that women undergo Pap smear screening. This study was conducted to validate the adapted instrument, which was based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), into the Malay language to evaluate the motivational factors for Pap smear screening among women. The original 26-item PMT scale was developed based on seven constructs of the PMT framework. The adaptation involved translation by bilingual experts ( = 4), followed by synthesis ( = 6). Subsequently, we performed content validation (content validation index, CVI) among the health experts ( = 5) and face validation (face validation index, FVI) among women ( = 11). Reliability testing for internal consistency was determined via the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of women aged between 21 and 65 years ( = 150). One item was deleted based on the expert consensus, leaving a total of 25 items after the adaptation. The validation yielded a good CVI and FVI. Prior to CFA reliability testing, one item was deleted due to very low factor loading. The CFA indicated a good fit for 24 items. The factor loading (range: 0.45-0.98), average variance extracted (range: 0.44-0.90), and composite reliability (range: 0.69-0.97) indicated that the convergent validity for each construct was acceptable, except for the perceived vulnerability. However, the perceived vulnerability construct was accepted based on expert verification. We confirmed that the translation, cross-cultural, adaptation, and validation of the Malay-version PMT scale were valid and reliable. The scale contains 24 items that represent the seven constructs of the PMT framework.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Female; Humans; Language; Malaysia; Middle Aged; Motivation; Papanicolaou Test; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
PubMed: 35682440
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19116858 -
American Journal of Public Health Jan 1993Proven screening technologies exist for both breast and cervical cancer, but they are underused by many women. We sought to evaluate the effect of demographic...
OBJECTIVES
Proven screening technologies exist for both breast and cervical cancer, but they are underused by many women. We sought to evaluate the effect of demographic characteristics on the underuse of mammography and Pap smear screening.
METHODS
We analyzed responses from 12,252 women who participated in the 1987 National Health Interview Survey Cancer Control Supplement. Demographic profiles were produced to target severely underserved groups of women.
RESULTS
Low income was a strong predictor of mammography underuse, as was Hispanic ethnicity and other race, low educational attainment, age greater than 65, and residence in a rural area. A strong predictor of never having had a Pap smear was never having been married; however, the importance of this characteristic is difficult to interpret in the absence of data on sexual activity. Hispanic women and women of other races of all ages and all income levels underused Pap smear screening, as did older women, particularly older Black women.
CONCLUSIONS
The tendency of women to underuse screening technologies varies greatly across levels of basic demographic characteristics. The importance of these characteristics differs for mammography screening versus Pap smear screening.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Educational Status; Employment; Ethnicity; Female; Humans; Mammography; Marital Status; Mass Screening; Middle Aged; Papanicolaou Test; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Social Class; United States; Urban Population; Vaginal Smears
PubMed: 8417607
DOI: 10.2105/ajph.83.1.53 -
Journal of Cancer Research and... 2019Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. Early diagnosis and effective treatment are possible with Pap smear test. However, women should be...
BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. Early diagnosis and effective treatment are possible with Pap smear test. However, women should be informed about human papilloma virus (HPV), cervical cancer, and Pap smear test to protect against cervical cancer.
AIM
The aim of this study is to identify knowledge level and behavior of women from various occupations, who reside in a city in the south of Turkey, about HPV, cervical cancer, and Pap smear test.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted with 753 women consisting of 228 nurses, 28 doctors, 135 teachers, 20 academicians, 21 policewomen, and 321 homemakers. The data were collected with face-to-face interview method using survey form and attitude scale related to early diagnosis of cervical cancer.
RESULTS
Of the women whose age average is 34.7 ± 7.51, 79% are married, 52.9% have middle income, 62.5% live in towns, and 58.6% are primary school graduates. It was determined that 69.2% of these women had gynecological examination, 27.8% had Pap smear test, and 1.3% had HPV vaccination. About 59.5% of these women stated not having heard of HPV, 61.3% of HPV vaccination, and 41.9% that HPV causes cervical cancer. Those women who have a good education and income level and who live in the city are found to have higher knowledge levels of HPV, HPV vaccination, Pap smear test, and cervical cancer (P < 0.05). Among the occupational groups, it was determined that the nurses are the ones who have least gynecological examination had and the doctors are the ones who have the most number of Pap smear tests had. It was found that average point that women got from the attitude scale of early diagnosis of cervical cancer was 101.91 ± 10.77 that the doctors and nurses had the highest points, 105.29 ± 11.65 and 103.15 ± 9.92, respectively, and that police officers had the lowest points by 93.42 ± 16.50.
CONCLUSION
It was determined that the knowledge level and attitudes of the participant women about HPV, cervical cancer, and Pap smear test were insufficient.
Topics: Adult; Early Detection of Cancer; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Mass Screening; Middle Aged; Occupations; Papanicolaou Test; Papillomaviridae; Papillomavirus Infections; Population Surveillance; Risk Factors; Turkey; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Young Adult
PubMed: 31898654
DOI: 10.4103/jcrt.JCRT_1195_16 -
The Western Journal of Medicine Nov 1998Of the more than 50 million Pap smears performed annually in the United States, about 5% of them are abnormal. Although the need for treatment of high-grade lesions is... (Review)
Review
Of the more than 50 million Pap smears performed annually in the United States, about 5% of them are abnormal. Although the need for treatment of high-grade lesions is clear, the appropriate management of low-grade lesions remains controversial. New methods of screening for cervical cancer have become available, including testing for the human papilloma virus and improved methods of administering and evaluating the Pap smear. This review addresses new developments in cervical cancer screening and management strategies for when an abnormality is detected.
Topics: Epithelial Cells; Female; Humans; Mass Screening; Papanicolaou Test; Papillomaviridae; Papillomavirus Infections; Tumor Virus Infections; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Uterine Cervical Dysplasia
PubMed: 9830367
DOI: No ID Found -
BMC Women's Health Dec 2022Despite the national cervical cancer (CC) screening program established in 2006, the CC incidence in Estonia in 2020 was still one of the highest in Europe. To better...
BACKGROUND
Despite the national cervical cancer (CC) screening program established in 2006, the CC incidence in Estonia in 2020 was still one of the highest in Europe. To better understand the possible barriers among women, the aim of this study was to describe the inequalities in the Pap smear uptake trend in 2004-2020 and to analyse the associations between different factors in Estonia.
METHODS
Weighted data of 25-64-year-old women (N = 6685) from population-based cross-sectional studies of Health Behaviour among Estonian Adult Population in 2004-2020 was used. Linear trends in uptake of Pap smear over time were tested using the Cochrane-Armitage test. Binary logistic regression with interactions was performed to analyse associations between the uptake of Pap smear and sociodemographic, socioeconomic, health-related and lifestyle factors. Crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated.
RESULTS
Prevalence of lifetime uptake of Pap smear increased in 2004-2020 from 50.6 to 86.7% (P < 0.001). From 2004 to 2020, uptake of Pap smear increased significantly among women aged 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64, in both ethnicity groups and among women with basic, secondary and higher education (P < 0.001). The gap in Pap smear uptake increased between Estonians and non-Estonians but decreased between education levels over time. Lower lifetime uptake of Pap smear was associated from sociodemographic factors with younger age, being non-Estonian and single, from socioeconomic factors with lower educational level and unemployment, from health indicators with higher body mass index indicating overweight and obesity, presence of chronic disease and depressiveness, and from lifestyle factors with non-smoking.
CONCLUSIONS
Although Pap smear uptake among 25-64 year old women increased significantly in Estonia in 2004-2020, inequalities were found indicating an opportunity for development of targeted CC prevention strategies.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Cross-Sectional Studies; Early Detection of Cancer; Mass Screening; Papanicolaou Test; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
PubMed: 36566176
DOI: 10.1186/s12905-022-02123-z -
BMC Women's Health Jul 2023In 2020, cervical cancer ranked fourth in terms of both frequency of diagnosis and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women globally. Among Malaysian...
BACKGROUND
In 2020, cervical cancer ranked fourth in terms of both frequency of diagnosis and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women globally. Among Malaysian women, it was the third most prevalent form of cancer. Published data on nationally representative cervical cancer screening in Malaysia have been limited. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of receiving a Pap smear test in the past three years, its relationship with socio-demographic factors and physical activity.
METHODS
Using a subset of survey data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019, a secondary data analysis was performed. Trained research assistants collected data through face-to-face method using a mobile tablet questionnaire system application. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between sociodemographic factors, physical activity, and cervical cancer screening. The analyses were conducted using STATA version 14 (Stata Corp, College Station, Texas, USA), accounting for sample weighs and complex sampling design.
RESULTS
The analysis included 5,650 female respondents, representing an estimated 10.3 million Malaysian female adults aged 18 and above. Overall, 35.2% (95%CI 33.2, 37.4) respondents had a Pap smear test within the past three years. Respondents who were physically active were 1.41 times more likely to have a Pap smear test. Similarly, respondents aged 35-59 (OR 1.84; 95%CI 1.46, 2.34) and those living in rural localities (OR 1.38; 95%CI 1.13, 1.70) had higher odds of receiving a Pap smear test. Compared to married respondents, single respondents (OR 0.04; 95%CI 0.02, 0.07) and widowed/divorcee respondents (OR 0.72; 95%CI 0.56, 0.82) were less likely to receive a Pap smear test. Educated respondents were more likely to have had a Pap smear test.
CONCLUSIONS
The overall prevalence of cervical cancer screening in Malaysia remains low (35.2%). Efforts should be made to strengthen health promotion programs and policies in increasing awareness on the significance of cervical cancer screening. These initiatives should specifically target younger women, single women, and widowed/divorced individuals. The higher cervical screening uptake among rural women should be studied further, and the enabling factors in the rural setup should be emulated in urban areas whenever possible.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Vaginal Smears; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Early Detection of Cancer; Malaysia; Prevalence; Mass Screening; Papanicolaou Test; Surveys and Questionnaires; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
PubMed: 37491253
DOI: 10.1186/s12905-023-02553-3