Knowledge and Awareness about Cervical Cancer and Its Prevention amongst Interns and Nursing Staff in Tertiary Care Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Background and ObjectiveCervical cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst the gynecological cancers worldwide, especially in developing countries. It is imperative for at least health professionals in developing countries like Pakistan to have a sound knowledge about the disease. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer and its prevention amongst health professionals in tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods and DesignA cross-sectional, interview based survey was conducted in June, 2009. Sample of 400 was divided between the three tertiary care centers. Convenience sampling was applied as no definitive data was available regarding the number of registered interns and nurses at each center.ResultsOf all the interviews conducted, 1.8% did not know cervical cancer as a disease. Only 23.3% of the respondents were aware that cervical cancer is the most common cause of gynecological cancers and 26% knew it is second in rank in mortality. Seventy-eight percent were aware that infection is the most common cause of cervical cancer, of these 62% said that virus is the cause and 61% of the respondents knew that the virus is Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Majority recognized that it is sexually transmitted but only a minority (41%) knew that it can be detected by PCR. Only 26% of the study population was aware of one or more risk factors. Thirty seven percent recognized Pap smear as a screening test. In total only 37 out of 400 respondents were aware of the HPV vaccine.ConclusionThis study serves to highlight that the majority of working health professionals are not adequately equipped with knowledge concerning cervical cancer. Continuing Medical Education program should be started at the hospital level along with conferences to spread knowledge about this disease.

Knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer and its prevention among nursing staff of a tertiary care teaching institute in South India

“…This was in accordance to study done by Shashank Shekhar et al 12 where 76.9% participants reported so. Also, these observations were better than the findings in other study from Pakistan done by Ali SF et al 13 where only quarter of the nurses were aware of this.…”

Awareness of carcinoma cervix in nursing personnel of a tertiary care institute, Mumbai, India

“…In a study of Ali et al, 45% and in a study carried out by McCarey et al, 41% of the nurses knew this. 9,10 In the present study, 73.9% mentioned early age at pregnancy as one of the risk factors for cervical cancer. In the study by Nganwai et al 81.8 and 85.6% of respondents knew these as risk factors for cervical cancer.…”

“…Similar findings (83%) were documented in a study carried out by Mutyaba et al 11 In a study by Ali et al, only 75% knew the same. 9 In the present study, only 5 (5%) respondents underwent Pap test. The same result (5.5%) was there in a study by Udigwe.…”

“…6 Very similar results, were found in several studies conducted in many other countries all over the world. [7][8][9][10][11] Nurses can provide information to all the patients they serve in day-to-day practice. They play a key role in health promotion and disease prevention.…”

Determining the Knowledge of Women and Their Attitudes Regarding Gynecological Cancer Prevention

“…The role of nurses and obstetricians in providing the information and awareness about gynecological cancer is crucial (Lockwood-Rayermann et al, 2009;Ali et al, 2010;Savaş and Taşkın, 2011).…”