Awareness, screening, Practices and attitudes of cervical cancer among doctors and nursing staff working at a tertiary care center

Abstract

Objectives: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice of medical and paramedical staff about cervical cancer as well as its screening and prevention. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from March 1 to August 30, 2019, and comprised women medical and paramedical staff randomly selected from different specialties. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. Results: Of the 347 participants 144(41.5%) were nurses and 203(58.5%) were doctors. The overall mean age was 26.22±6.38 years. Of the total, 108(30%) respondents were married and 239(68%) were single. Overall, 239(68.8%) were well aware of Pap smear being the screening test; 85(24.5%) were aware of the true guidelines to repeat the test; 152(43.8%) had an idea of the exact use of visual Inspection with acetic acid; 61(17.6%) had got a Pap smear done; and 156(45%) thought they were at risk of developing carcinoma cervix. The common risk factors identified were multiple sexual partners 254(73.2%), age at first sexual intercourse 160(46%), smoking 131(37.8%), foul-smelling discharge 221(63.7%), and post-coital bleeding 231(66.6%). Conclusion: Cervical cancer prevalence is rising due to inadequate knowledge and awareness among healthcare personals. Improvement can be brought by regular use of Pap smear. Key Words: Cervical cancer, Pap smear, Healthcare professionals, Visual inspection with acetic acid.

A Cross-Sectional Study on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Related to Cervical Cancer Screening Among the Nursing Staff in a Tertiary Care Hospital in the Western Region of India

“…The knowledge of VIA was less than Pap test, which could be alarming as VIA is a technique that is primarily targeted to be conducted by the nursing staff for cervical cancer screening in low-resource areas. In our study, 92.8% were aware of the Pap test as a screening method, compared to 68.9% in a similar study conducted in Pakistan [14]. However, awareness of VIA as a recall question was 12.4% at the start of the study, but with further succession of the study, with prior priming effect, 70.8% of participants were able to identify VIA as a screening method for cervical cancer.…”

Practices Regarding Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer in A Sample of Paramedical Staff in Al- Najaf Governorate, Iraq

“…The study was observed (32.6%) single para-medical staff, the percentage (65.4%) were married and (2% widow and divorced), in comparison with other reported studies this result was similar with other reported study done by [13] in Central Ethiopia who found the higher percentage (61.4%) was married. But disagree with the study result done in Iran by [14] and in Pakistan by [15] which shows that most of study participant were single (81.5%), (68%) respectively. this difference may be due to that the study was conducted in Pakistan was on students who were younger than 24 years old, so the majority of the sample was unmarried, while the current study was on health workers and their ages ranged between 22 to 63 years, so the higher percentage of them were married.…”

Beliefs and Utilization of Cervical Cancer Screening by Female Health Care Workers in Saudi Arabia Using the Health Belief Model: A Nationwide Study

“…The frequency of cervical cancer screening uptake by HCWs varies among countries, eg, Pakistan (17.6%), Jordan (19.1%), Saudi Arabia (26.2%), Turkey (4.2-45.2%), Qatar (42.2%), and Taiwan (70.6%). 14,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Differences in cultural background and demographic characteristics of participants, the risk factor profile and epidemiology of cervical cancer, the healthcare system, and methodologies could contribute to these differences.…”