Knowledge about cervical cancer, Pap test and barriers towards cervical screening of women in Turkey
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
We aimed to identify knowledge about cervical cancer (CC) and Pap test (PT) and the barriers why women do not have Pap test done. The study was conducted with a sample of 1,036 women. Overall, 64.4 % had heard of CC, 43.1 % had heard about PT and 24.7 % had had a test at least once. It was determined that women had moderate knowledge of cervical cancer but poor knowledge of Pap test. Knowledge of CC and PT was significantly better among employed and single women, who had higher education, no prior delivery, a higher income level and regular gynaecological examination. Common barriers to PT were lack of awareness, being uncomfortable with the procedure and not knowing where to go for a PT. Utilization of the PT will not increase unless knowledge is improved and barriers are eliminated. Healthcare professionals are the key persons to provide both knowledge and facilities towards the goal of CC prevention. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Description
Keywords
Adult , Awareness , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Cross-Sectional Studies , Educational Status , Female , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Health Literacy , Humans , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Socioeconomic Factors , Turkey , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms , Vaginal Smears , adult , attitude to health , awareness , comparative study , cross-sectional study , cultural factor , educational status , ethnology , female , health literacy , human , patient attitude , psychology , socioeconomics , Turkey , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms , vagina smear , article , attitude to health , ethnology , patient attitude , psychological aspect , Turkey (republic) , uterine cervix tumor , vagina smear