Are Primary Health Care Workers Aware of Cervical Cancer Risk?

Abstract

Background: We here examined the awareness of female health employees (doctors, nurses, midwives) working in primary health care service about cervical cancer and its risk factors. Additionally attitude and behavior for gynecologic examination and pap smear screening wwere researched. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study con cerned female health employees working at primary health care services in two southern cities of Turkey, over a four month period in 2013. Participants were recently or previously sexually active research was explained and verbal informed consent was obtained face to face. The questionnaire consisted of two parts; socio-demographic characteristics and level of knowledge about cervical cancer and its risk factors. Results: The average age of the participants (midwives 43.7%, n=143; nurses 40.4%, n=132; doctors 6.4%, n=21; emergency medical technicians and others, 9.5%, n=31; total, n=327) was 30.9±6.41 years. 64.2% (n=210) were working in Diyarbakir and 35.8% (n=117) in Batman. A large proportion reported low knowledge and inadequate screening practice Conclusions: Health employees should be better informed about the importance of screening for cancers, given their preventive roles for the general population.

Improving primary health care workers’ knowledge of cervical cancer and visual inspection screening techniques through competency-based training: prospects for expanding coverage in developing countries

“…Knowledge of HPV as a cause of cervical cancer, though observed to be good in a substantial number (73.1%) of the workers, was lower than a finding of over 80% from a similar study conducted among PHWs in Turkey. 19 Knowledge of HPV as the causative agent for cervical cancer serves as the fulcrum for health education about primary and secondary prevention of the disease, hence the gap in the baseline knowledge of PHWs in this study ought to be bridged. However, the higher level of knowledge from the Turkish study could be due to the relatively superior composition of their medical staffdoctors, nurses and midwives-as against doctors, nurses and community health extension workers (CHEWs) in this study.…”

“…While previous studies show that health workers have moderate knowledge of cervical cancer and its prevention, their understanding of its risk factors as well as visual inspection screening techniques is still inadequate. [19][20][21][22] In addition, several studies in LMICs that involved training of health workers did not explore the effect of training on their knowledge of cervical cancer and its prevention. [23][24][25][26] Moreover, in the Niger Delta area of Southern Nigeria, there is a dearth of studies on knowledge of cervical cancer and/or its screening amongst health workers; a literature search found no study that has assessed the knowledge of how to perform cervical screening in the region.…”

“…nurses and community health extension workers (CHEWs), who are the frontline facilitators and implementers of population-based prevention programmes and healthcare services at the grassroots could equip them with requisite knowledge and skills for cervical screening and prevention. 19,30 Besides, scaling up their knowledge and skill would offer invaluable prospects for expanding the coverage of screening services at primary care level.…”

Are female doctors aware of cervical cancer?

“…'nın (11) yaptığı çalışmada (9) , katılımcıların %34,8'inin, Özdemir ve ark. 'nın (13) çalışmasına katılan hemşirelerin %23,7'sinin, Oran ve ark.…”

“…Can ve ark. 'nın (11) Diyarbakır ve Batman illerinde çalışan kadın sağlık personeli ile yaptığı çalışmasında, düzenli jinekolojik muayene yaptırma oranları Batman ilinde %29,1, Diyarbakır ilinde ise %20,3 olarak bulunmuştur. Batman'da çalışanların %29,1'inin, Diyarbakır'da çalışanların ise %36'sının daha önce Pap Smear testini yaptırdığı raporlanmıştır.…”